The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord
by Queen Sydon
Summary: Chariot cares deeply for her protege and star pupil, Atsuko Kagari. But as the weather grows harsh and cold, so to with it comes moments of unexpected pain. It can bring people together in strange ways. Whilst finding a gentle comfort in protecting the young Witch, Chariot learns Akko may see her as more than just her kindly professor. She can't accept that love...can she...?
1. Promise

_Hello again. Here's that fic I said I would do. This is actually going to be a bit of learning experience for me as an attempt at emotional writing. Please let me know if it's at all satisfying as that. There will be some eventual angst, some hurt. But I will make it love. A relationship like this would be difficult in so many ways, so I hope to reflect the drama and hardships that would go along with it._

 _Ok, here we go my friends! Any feedback is appreciated and acknowledged!_

 _-Queen_

 _ **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**_

" _Promise"_

A day of lengthy and tedious teaching came to a thankful end as a chilly dusk fell upon the grounds of Luna Nova; the looming spectre of an even colder night nipping the air just behind. It was a time that called for scarves, woollen caps, and heaters. Where a piping hot cup of coffee or tea became more than just a relaxing drink, but an important liquid lifeline for those easily irritated by the frosty climate.

But most importantly, Chariot mused with a heavy weight cradled within her tense heart, it was a period where people naturally drew closer to one another. For warmth. For companionship. They reached out for these abstract things with hopeful, grasping hands, like trying to catch fire. It gets warmer the closer one gets, but in doing so that fear of smothering it entirely gnaws at that desire.

Or perhaps…it was being burnt that Chariot sincerely feared. To have that fire snap and flare into something painful, something that couldn't be held close any more, or most dreadfully, would itself refuse that closeness. Was it better to admire that flame from a distance rather than lose it? Of course, Chariot could still remember clearly why such a dilemma frightened her so.

It was because of Croix. Because on that cold, windy evening, Croix was going to call her for the first time in months. She'd been anxious, giddy even for that entire morning and afternoon leading up to their rare correspondence, becoming exponentially more sheepish and bashful; hiding her troubled eyes from curious students behind the rounded slope of her pointed hat and the dim glare of her glasses.

But Chariot couldn't stop that sting of anxious dread from riding along with the nervousness like some unwanted, hateful passenger on an otherwise pleasant journey. Chariot breathed a stifling sigh that shook and rattled at its end as she stared at the grounds outside the tower through the elaborate, rounded window of her quarters towards the gathering grey clouds cresting the hills in the far distance. There was a good chance the moon would be obscured that night. An ill omen? Or just her stunted nerves beating her down like usual? Chariot couldn't decide on anything of the sort in that moment. The only raucous musing that didn't splinter apart like glass was the one question she'd been asking herself for as long as she'd known her difficult but troubled confidant known as Croix Meridies.

' _What if…?'_ Was that thought Chariot continued to mull over in the caverns of her uneasy mind. That simple, broken phrase repeated over and over, an echo without end that bounced and tumbled from one wall to the next, never finding purchase. Never sure where to settle. At times it would blossom into a beautiful hope before taking a nosedive into crushing disappointment. _'What if…?'_

Chariot hastily shook her head, ruby-crimson hair arcing across her shoulders with the motion as it caught glints of dull amber lamplight in its strands. She had to stop doubting herself, especially then with that critical moment in her life looming ever closer. With a deep, steadying breath, Chariot pulled whatever traces of courage still intact within her, finding with no small amount of relief that her gnawing uncertainty stalled for that moment. Flashes of pleasant memories of her younger years danced about; Croix's restrained, calculated smile. That confidant posture, that sharp, silver tongue. The one recollection that always took precedence was that precious moment the two had shared under the shade of an oak tree during their last week as students of Luna Nova. Chariot, ever-reckless and impatient, had pulled an all-nighter to cram and graciously scrape past an important conjuration exam. Without even realising it, she'd fallen asleep on Croix's shoulder as the two had sat side-by-side, their backs propped on the trunk of the tree. After four hours of the restful, blissful rest, Chariot had awoken to find Croix hadn't moved at all from that position, greeting her return to the waking world with a gentle smile the crimson-haired Witch would never forget.

At the time, Chariot had been unsure what her feelings towards her dear friend meant. She'd thought her and Croix were already as close as they could get, but after that cherished moment…she ultimately begun to understand.

Chariot was in love with Croix. She probably always had been. And finally, the time had come in her present to voice those feelings she'd kept locked away in a heart caged by uncertainty and fear for so long.

Right on cue, the vintage crystal ball by her desk suddenly blared to life; ringing out a klaxon-like beep that always seemed to spook Chariot on quieter days. Reminding herself to find out how to lower the volume on the troublesome tool, Chariot measured the rest of her focus in clumsily springing down the short flight of stairs three steps at a time. The communique reached its loudest peak as she skidded to a halt in front of the crystal ball and swiped her hand over its surface to allow the fated call to come through.

"Y-Yes! Hello! This is Ursachariot- wait-I-I meant to say…uhmm…" Chariot blabbered out the ruinous greeting before the nerve to even see who was on the display settled in. She focused her gaze on the screen, nervously correcting a skew in her glasses that made it seem as if three blurred Croix's had called in. Thankfully as her vision cleared, her most trusted friend came into proper view with an unabashed, unhurried grin. The woman's lilac-hair sat trimmed and short, peeking out from beneath an auburn hood curled around a robe; its curt tresses falling slightly over the dazzling emerald of those calculating, yet warm eyes that regarded Chariot patiently and without judgement.

"You're as articulate as always, Chariot." Croix greeted with a cheery length added to her smile, adding in a soft chuckle with a quick shake of her head. "I know you never got the hang of talking to people like this, but I thought this would be the day I'd get a normal greeting for once. Well, there's always next time. And if everything goes well with my quest here, then perhaps we will be able to see each other in person the next time we speak." Croix closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, one that Chariot noted seemed somewhat forced. The other woman must have been nervous as well, but had always been much more adept at hiding the obvious tells. It was a calming thought, to know that she could still see those subtle changes in demeanour where it seemed no one else could. "But enough about all that for now, Chariot. It's good to see you again. Tell me, how have you been? How are you, really?"

"I've been…" Chariot paused, noting the shakiness in her tone. Keeping her gaze on Croix's patient smile and kind eyes, the crimson-haired Witch felt a semblance of calm that steadied her words. It was just like it had been in the past; Croix's cool, taciturn nature rubbing off on her. Whenever Chariot would doubt and or hesitate, Croix could remind her to relax and take things one step at a time with a single, placid glance. "To tell you the truth, Croix, I've been a little stressed lately. But not more than normal I think. Being young can be suffering here, especially when Finnelan wants something done faster than it needs to. I swear every time I see that woman she looks closer and closer to a bird. "

Croix actually laughed a little at that, a rare sound that easily cracked a smile on Chariots lips that burst out into an earnest giggle of her own.

"What's this then? The pure and righteous Chariot Du Nord talking trash about someone? Hahaha…! The night of a silver moon has arrived! What's the world coming to?"

Croix's laughter rang out far louder than Chariot would've expected, suddenly making her paranoid that Finnelan herself was lurking about bursting to give an earful to the easily-startled Witch. "Croix! You've got to be a little quieter!" She hissed, urging her voice to come off admonishing but the still-present grin on her lips did nothing to hold back the amused cheer in her words. "Knowing my rotten luck she's probably right outside the window listening to us!"

Croix arced her brow, puzzled. "Why would she wait outside the window…wait…"

Chariot had meant to say door, but an abrupt image in her thoughts of Finnelan transformed into some vulture-like creature with her distinct nose as its beak had caused the verbal slip. All at once she understood why Croix was already smirking widely before another hearty laugh echoed throughout the otherwise silent quarters.

"Right! Of course she'd be at the window! Like a _bird!_ Hahaha!" Croix managed to blurt out in between bouts of snorting laughter.

The joke had been an accident, but when the pieces of it fell into place Chariot promptly forgot her sheepish nature and joined in at laughing herself silly at a crabby Professors' expense. It felt bad for only a second before a mighty flame of euphoric joy lit up inside Chariots heart in that happy moment in time.

 _I can't believe how great this feels. Just to laugh again. To laugh with Croix. I've missed this so much…_

The cheerful reprieve simmered soon after with both women composing themselves after the raucous noise. Croix let out one last accidental snort, earning one last stifled giggle from Chariot before they both settled down to actually catch a breath.

"Sometimes I forget, Chariot. You're the only one who can make me laugh like that. I don't think you ever mean to, but that's what makes it funny to me. Ahhh, what a nice rush. Feels like I'm seventeen again. Oh, that reminds me. Did you get that thing for tonight?"

Chariot scanned her memory on what that thing could be. Hastily she remembered she'd purchased and left that item on the left side of the crystal ball months ago; a subtle-blue bottle of Brettonian Azure, a wine said to taste sweeter and maltier during the changing of seasons, at least according to the label. She didn't have a clue if such a claim was true. Chariot knew little to nothing about alcoholic drinks. She could scarcely recall when her last drink had even taken place. Graduation? The fact that she could not remember that night at all was probably not a good sign.

"Y-yes. Here it is, Croix." She plucked the bottle from the end of the table and held it so the other Witch could see, to which the lilac-haired woman nodded in approval and produced her own bottle of the same brand from some off-screen surface on the other end. A lingering flush of nervousness prompted Chariot to voice a niggling concern. "I'm not too sure about trying something like this. Maybe it'll be too strong? And perhaps we should save these for an important celebration?"

Chariot knew as soon as she stopped talking that she'd made a bit of a mistake. She noted a barely-perceptible slump in Croix's shoulders, followed by a curt sigh that thinned the woman's smile.

"A celebration? How about talking to your best friend for the first time in months?"

Croix sounded disappointed rather than cold, but all the same, Chariot threw herself into the first opportunity to salvage that moment.

"I'm sorry, Croix! I didn't mean it like that! It's just…I haven't had a drink in so long. There aren't any classes to teach tomorrow, so I don't know why I just…I just…"

"Hey. It's Ok. Don't worry about it." Croix interjected with a cool laugh and a quick shake of her head. "If anything it was wrong of me to pressure you…"

The air grew tense as both of their sentences petered out to awkward silence. Chariot felt it was mostly her fault that the cheery atmosphere had been dulled due to her being a wet-blanket. In her youth, Chariot would launch head-first- sometimes quite literally- into everything new and unknown, everything even remotely exciting. How Chariot wished she could be that reckless again.

But perhaps…she was done wishing things. Finished with settling for the status quo. When had that ever made her happy? What had that kind of attitude done to make her feel less alone? She did have friends, family, people who looked to her with respect and sought her counsel.

But she was still alone. In the way that perhaps mattered most of all. And in order to dull that fear and hopefully stoke the fire of reckless courage, Chariot Du Nord suddenly closed her teeth over the cork of the bottle before abruptly yanking it out with a mighty tug and a satisfying _**pop.**_

That distinct sound and the impulsive motions that caused it left Croix Meridies speechless, staring wide-eyed and slightly slack-jawed. But right after, her expression blazed into one of relieved delight as the woman once again shook her head with an added chuckle of amused disbelief. In the meantime Chariot had whisked a hefty wine glass into her hand and was already pouring a generous amount of the deep ocean blue drink into it; the liquid swishing and bubbling about in the glass in a pleasing way. The rich smell of alcohol wafted about strongly, dizzying Chariot with how pungent it was. The stuff was _powerful_.

"My goodness, Chariot! Just what's gotten into you? I like it. I _like it_. I really do. It's just how you used to be. But let's take it slow. This is a stiff drink, even for me. And we got a lot to talk about."

Chariot brought the glass to her lips for a hearty swig, wincing as the liquid scorched her throat and danced those tiny blurred stars in the corners of her glassing vision. She couldn't help but recoil from the drink to arms length as if her tongue had been actually burned.

"Wow…! Ahh…" Chariot stifled a slight cough that somewhat helped cool the sting in her throat. She could already feel that euphoric tingling starting at the tips of her fingers moving inward. "I'll most definitely take it as slow as I can. Perhaps this glass alone will do for tonight."

"No problem with that, Chariot." Croix replied with another patient smile as she raised her own glass with regal precision and drank a calculated fill, taking the hit of alcohol with a curt and graceful sigh. "Now, tell me what's been happening in your life since we talked last. I want to know everything. Leave nothing out if you can help it. You can do that for an old friend, right?"

The heady buzz of alcohol helped a delighted chuckle emerge from Chariot, one that Croix returned sincerely as the crimson-haired Witch opened up to her. The words flowed from them easy and unfiltered, punctuated with bouts of laughter and moments of precious reverie alike. Chariot simply lost track of time from that point onward as she spilled whatever trifling thought that emerged from her fiery will bolstered by strong drink. All the while, not matter what it was Chariot chose to banter about, Croix would perk up with a measured, but still enthusiastic cheer and interest with her replies.

It wasn't until Chariot took note that she was on her third glass of Brettonian Azure that the Witch realised she'd been the one initiating every topic of conversation. Normally it was the complete opposite situation when she talked to people, but Croix was a great and focused listener. That and the amount Chariot had already drank probably had something to do with loosening her voice.

"Croix, I'm sorry. I've been babbling for too long…"

"It's not even an issue. I love your babbling. You know it's not like me to pretend to be interested." She replied cooly, the woman now seated in a simple wicker chair at a tiny desk within the interior of a small and humble tent. The walls of it rippled from outside winds, but the lone candle flickering at Croix's desk stubbornly held its flame.

"Yes that's true. But still, I want to know what's happening with you too, Croix. You can tell me anything."

Croix mulled her reply for a fair bit longer than Chariot had expected, for a second making her doubt whether the other woman wanted to speak of herself at all as she turned the wine glass in her hands in slow, ponderous circles.

"There's really only one thing on my agenda at the moment. It's that promise I made to you, remember?"

A slight pang of shame hit Chariot at that. She'd been having so much fun chatting to her friend that she'd momentarily forgotten just why it was that Croix was calling her from some forsaken land after months out of contact. The Wagandea Curse…

She'd be lying if she said that being unable to take to the skies any longer wasn't crippling to her routine, exhaustingly so. And it had been Croix's earlier schemes that played a big part in that situation playing out as ugly as it had.

But even so, Chariot simply wanted to blurt out that Croix should just break that promise. To return to Luna Nova and forget about penitence. That her being away was becoming far more unbearable than Chariot never being able to use magic at all.

Croix, ever sharp, must have seen that plea about to escape Chariot's lips and spoke up before she could.

"I know you want me to come back. To forget about the cure. It'd be a selfish thing for both of us…but I won't deny I haven't considered what I would say if you had managed to ask…"

Croix took a deep breath and settled her unfinished glass aside, closing her eyes as she continued speaking with Chariot hanging taut on the woman's every word.

"...but I can't walk away from this now. _Especially_ now."

Her tone suddenly raised to a determined pitch as Croix reopened her eyes and stared unblinking into Chariots own.

"Listen to me, I've had a breakthrough. Part of the reason I was so adamant to talk to you like this is because that very breakthrough may also be incredibly dangerous. I've met with a man in this desert calling himself a Chaos Sorcerer. In the morning he's going to help me find an archive of knowledge in another realm that will have everything I will need to help you and more. It's not going to be safe, Chariot. You know I will never lie to you again. That's why I wanted this night to mean something. Even if we were apart, I just wanted to see you again so there'd be no regrets. Just in case I-"

"Don't say that, Croix." Chariot whispered out without even thinking. "Please don't say that. I respect your decision. I would've…I would've said yes right away if you wanted to come back. But I understand. Whatever it is that needs to be done on your end, I just want you to be as careful as you can doing it."

"Right." Croix nodded, looking away a fraction, a slight crease in her features from an apparent effort to fight back tears.

"One more thing, Chariot." She went on, wincing a little after the internal struggle to keep her composure to fix her stern gaze on the woman again. "I've got no regrets coming here. I can't afford to have any. So if there's anything you want to tell me, any kind of regret in your heart about all that's happened between us…I need to know while I can."

The alcohol in Chariot's body froze just as time itself seemed to along with it. All her senses screamed at Chariot that that was the time. If her voice failed, if she took the safe "easy" route as she had so many times before and didn't tell her how she truly felt, then it would form to be a regret so massive that letting it become a reality was utterly unbearable. If like Croix said and the unthinkable did happen…

No. It would not come to pass. And Chariot wasn't going to back down from saying what she'd been struggling to even form as a sentence for so many years…

"Croix." At first she could only say her name. Her body was trembling terribly as fresh tears pooled in her eyes, catching beads on the lens of her glasses carelessly. "Croix…!"

With a strained breath choked with tears Chariot finally managed to blurt out:

"Croix, I'm in _love_ with you! I have been for so long…I don't feel about anyone how I feel about you. You're more than a friend to me, Croix! You're everything! I want to be closer to you…if you'd allow me…"

Chariot was unable to see Croix's reaction through the glassy mess of tears, and as the seconds agonisingly ticked away in silence Chariot roughly dabbed the watery mess from her face clumsily using her sleeve. Why wasn't Croix saying anything? What had Chariot expected her reply to be? _I've always loved you too, Chariot. Why else did I stay by your side so long?_

"Chariot, I'm sorry."

A hammer smashed its way into Chariots chest, seizing her body tight in a pain she had never experienced before. Her sleeve sodden with tears fell away from face as her arm flopped limply to her side. With robotic, unnatural movements Chariot levelled her gaze and took in Croix's expression.

The woman's lips were curled tight, her eyes narrowed grimly in an intangible, but obvious pain. That expression, to Chariot's mounting, dreading horror, was saying everything she feared. Her worst nightmare. It had just become her impossible reality.

"I'm _sorry…"_ Croix repeated in a weak croaking voice. "I…I…don't know what…else to say. I can't bring myself to lie, Chariot…"

A stifling numbness seemed to draw from Chariots face to the rest of her body, muting her entire existence to a lump of clay playing at being human. She could only stare back at Croix with a look she could not figure nor see herself, but whatever expression she was wearing made Croix tense and recoil from looking directly into her eyes for longer than a second.

"Chariot, please…don't look at me like that. I didn't want to hurt you. But… this is an absolute shock to me. It really is. I never thought-I never even _considered_ that you-"

"Please stop." Chariot managed to say in a shaking whisper, another fresh bite of agony into her soul at the wounded look Croix sent her way at her words. "You're saying…that you don't like girls...that you don't like me…in that way…?"

Croix broke eye contact to cover her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the desk. She suddenly looked exhausted. Defeated. When she at last spoke again, she did so without showing her face from that position.

"...No."

 _No._

On some odd carnal reflex Chariot found she was already taking another large sip of her wine, finding the glass still in her hand as if by luck alone. No relief came from the bitter taste of the liquid sliding down her numb throat. But it was still a feeling. It was something. It was nothing.

She heard something else from the crystal ball projecting Croix, another muted voice from an angle she could not see. A deep baritone, inhuman even. Whatever the voice belonged to it drew Croix's rattled attention aside for a moment. Croix responded quietly to the voice, uttering a single fatigued "Yes" before moving her pained eyes back to Chariot.

"Chariot. My time's up here. I love you. Nothing will ever change that. When I return, the first thing I want to see is your smile. Can you do that for me, Chariot? Can you make that promise for me?"

Something cracked and shattered, falling into a pit as dust. Chariot forced a broken smile to grace her tear-stricken face. It was the same shallow motion she'd done hundreds of times as Shiny Chariot on the worlds stage; to shine bright despite her pain. To laugh and cheer despite her loneliness.

"I promise." She breathed out, barely holding that smile.

Croix opened her mouth to say something else but she pursed her lips closed. The woman frowned a little, hesitating before returning one more frank grin.

"Right. Let's…both get through this, Ok?"

Chariot couldn't say anything more. She thought she nodded slightly but couldn't tell if she had moved at all. Regardless, Croix's lingering smile was the last thing she saw as her crystal ball powered down and its surface resumed to reflect the amber shine from lamplights dotted around her quarters.

She thought she would break down the moment the call was over, but Chariot couldn't even move from her seat in front of the crystal. Her own reflection stared back at her, looking oddly calm. Another heavy drink from her glass, emptying it.

Shattered, Chariot Du Nord repeated that process. All the while never breaking eye contact with the person she hated the most.

=][=

 _AN: Any good? I feel like there might be a hundred mistakes my clueless gaze refuses to see. Ah well, spell-check don't fail me now. I hope you enjoyed guys. I know this might be a downer but I set this up to have the next chapter from Akko's perspective, and her attempts to heal her beloved mentor, and the difficult relationship that arises from something deep they find they share. It might get a bit 'risky' later on, but hey, this is fanfiction!_

 _Please tune in next time! I got some juicy drama cookin' in this here cauldron._


	2. Heart in Loss

**AN: (Does a sweet backflip right into her computer chair) He-yo! Made it back. First off a sincere thank you to those truly encouraging reviews. It's why I can still do this! Every writer will tell you the same. Never underestimate the power a few rallying words can have on a total stranger across the pond. It's like honey and coffee combined: invigorating!**

 **Queen's Review Reply Corner:**

 **CharmedTheVampireSlayer: Yes, it was tricky to do that in service of the set up for this story, but I'm not the kind of writer who'll kick a character when she's down. All hurt is for healing and hope. Cheers for checking this story out.**

 **TDawn: Haha! I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for the kind words. I thought it would be in-character for Croix to be upfront like that. Still, I'm sad having to topple the Charoix ship here. But not sink it entirely…**

 **Oscar: Yep! Thanks a bunch. I tried to hunker down and smash this out. Gotta keep that flow. Hope you enjoy, friend.**

 **Felix: Hey, thank you…I'm happy I can still give that kind of reaction. I won't let you down.**

 **Your Intelligence: Aw, shucks! Cheers for that! You're always honest with your critique, so that means a lot. I'll try and keep that level of quality going forward. Plus, we still gotta Hunt something too.**

 **.**

 **Next one. Enjoy! Someone's gotta heal Chariot's pain…gee I wonder who :P**

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Heart in Loss_

"Okay…this is it…" Atsuko Kagari whispered to herself with her eyes snapped shut in deep concentration. She stood rigid and straight in the middle of her dormitory between everyone's beds; wand held tight in her hands in a posture that looked more like a reckless warrior holding a sword rather than a little Witch practising magic. Lotte and Sucy stood close by behind Akko, apprehensively watching the unfolding procedure; the twenty-sixth attempt of that early afternoon on a weekend for Akko to pull off a perfect repairing spell for the first time. It'd been a spell she had far more trouble with than others of its kind, owing to the fact that to pull it off required a great control of one's patience and a steady, gentle touch during casting; two things the Japanese girl had that could be reliably measured in atoms. Akko's target that time was a small oaken rotary clock sitting atop the desk in the centre of the room, a dusty old thing that hadn't worked in years but still had all its part relatively intact, making it the best choice for practice for someone unattuned to that kind of magic.

"Remember Akko, don't rush the spell." Lotte spoke up softly so as not to disrupt her friends' focus. The Finnish girl gripped her small hands expectantly to her chest as Sucy stood slouching beside her. Though their body language was completely different, the two were channelling encouragement to their de facto leader all the same. Lotte continued with her measured advice, patiently walking Akko through the spell. "Too much power and it'll break the clock even more. Too little and nothing will happen. You just have to find that centre, to tap into the moment where the item was working at its best. When that happens just say the spell and let it out gently. I believe in you, Akko!"

"You know, you guys said half an hour at most to use the desk for this. I would say how long it's actually been but Akko's having trouble with the clock." Sucy added sarcastically with a casual shrug, but right after crossed her arms and gave a single, determined nod. "Hmph. Looks like I jinxed this whole situation. Now Akko's gonna get it perfect."

Akko smirked with resolute confidence without budging an iota from her unbending stance. After a sharp exhale of breath the girl slowly opened her eyes and stared down the length of her wand still poised dead-centre on the two pointed hands of the clock-face frozen at 12 o'clock sharp. Lotte's encouragement and Sucy's weary banter helped to calm her frayed nerves, especially after the frustration that had started to settle in after the 18th failed attempt. She reminded herself that it was paramount she get that spell right before the weekend was over. It was part of the core of an upcoming White Magic exam, one she needed to pass to keep her average grade from sinking to an all-time low. It was a little embarrassing that she was having so much trouble with it in the first place, as she could keenly remember being able to put an entire statue together with a similar class of spell in the past. Incorrectly of course, but _encouragingly_ incorrect.

"Thanks for being so patient with me, guys. But this is it where it ends! I can feel it in my bones!"

"Nah, that's just the potion I snuck into your tea this morning. Don't worry if they start to bend like rubber in a few minutes."

"Sucy…!"

"I'm kidding. Good luck, Akko."

Strengthened by that familiar and calming banter, Akko took one more breath as she willed her scattered magical energy to focus on the point of her wand. The backs of her hands prickled a bit, something Lotte and Sucy had warned her about earlier; the feeling meant she was using far too much energy for such a subtle spell. Slowing her breathing a little, the itchy sensation faded, allowing a cooling ripple to flow easily from her fingertips to the instrument. That was it! The perfect centre of the spell that had annoyingly eluded her had finally been found! With a confidant smirk, Akko jabbed her wand at the broken clock and calmly chanted out: _"Sosomme Tidiare."_

A few small sparkling flakes of magic danced from the tip of her wand and slowly fell upon the clock; twirling about its mouldy frame for a few seconds before fluttering into its confines.

There was a silent tension as all three Witches stood frozen in their places watching the clock for any sign of activity. Just as Akko's shoulders started to slump in resignation, the girls all perked up as one when they heard a distinct sound.

 _Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…_

Akko immediately launched into the air with a cry of delight, reaching such a height with the jubilant motion that the top of her head almost smashed into the ceiling. "YeeaAAAHHHH! FINALLY! That exam is done and dusted, mark my words!"

"That was great!" Lotte cheered along with her, doing a little fist pump with both hands. Her little blue spirit friend appeared over her shoulder just then and tapped its tiny hands together in soundless yet adorable clapping. "I'm so happy for you, Akko. A lot of Witches will underestimate how hard some of these fundamentals can be for Witches outside the bloodlines. But you pulled it off! Congrats!"

"Yeah you did good hogging the desk like that." Sucy muttered with a pleased smile that easily gave away her true feelings. "The clock looks like a slight breeze will vaporise it, but the important thing is you got it working. I'd call that a passing grade."

Akko turned away from the clock to face her friends, laughing sheepishly to herself with a reflexive scratching of the back of her head. "Aw, c'mon…it only took me a thousand tries…but thanks for helping me out here. You guys are the absolute-"

Her humble speech was cut short when the very sound that had caused her joyful celebration seemed to pick up tempo. Tentatively, Akko spun back around to glance at the clock, noting that it most definitely was getting faster and faster.

 _Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock-_

Alarmingly so.

"Eh?" Akko piped, unsure what to make of it. From behind her, Sucy peered over Akko's shoulder and eyed the perpetually accelerating clock with a worried squint.

"That…can't be good." She said flatly.

 _ **TickTickTickTickTickTickTick!**_

Akko was starting to back away from it slowly, panicky hands raised in anticipation of-knowing her abysmal luck-the worst case scenario.

"Umm, Lotte? Is it supposed to be doing that? Maybe we should GUAAH!" She started to sputter before the very girl Akko was addressing let out a panicked shriek and abruptly yanked the Japanese girl backwards off her feet, mashing the end of Akko's sentence into gibberish on her tongue. The walls of their dormitory easily blurred in her vision as she felt herself go briefly airborne from Lotte's surprisingly powerful tug before she landed painfully on her backside out in the hall outside the room; Sucy promptly landing right next to her in the exact same position. The two Witches sitting side-by-side on the floor didn't even have time to look confused as Lotte was already in front of them, whirling around to the door the bespectacled girl had apparently managed to throw them both through. With one more high-pitched yell she seized the door handle in her hands and _launched_ the door shut so loudly the walls at its sides rattled visibly from the impact. Finally, Lotte backed away in a panicked retreat that saw her stumble and fall lightly on her backside, landing square in between a still-speechless Akko and Sucy.

Akko thought about questioning what had just happened, but not even a second after Lotte had joined their impromptu sit-down, the thunderclap of a shaking explosion roared out from behind the door along with a flash of blinding golden light peeking out the edges, stretching the unfortunate framework so far outwards it seemed only a moment before it blasted outwards completely in a shower of splinters. Luckily, the door seemed to have held against the clock's spontaneous and baffling detonation, leaving the three Witches still sitting together on the ground in varying levels of shock and disbelief, staring at the smoking ruined bulwark of wood that used to be the working door to their room. The thrumming boom of the explosion lingered out its grim sound, like a distant volcano, carrying off into the halls of Luna Nova until finally giving way to silence.

"Nice moves, Lotte." Sucy was the first to speak after that spell of dejected silence, turning to Lotte with an impressed smirk. "Something tells me what you just did for us came from experience."

"Y-yeah…" Lotte affirmed that remark with a short nervous laugh. Her sprite sat perched amongst her orange tufts of hair, petting the girl gently on her head as if consoling her. "It happened to me when I was very little. It's really rare though. I tried to repair the oven at my house when it broke down without enough practice. And…well…the mess it made is what I remember the most."

Akko listened to her friends speaking but felt no urge to join in with the conversation. Once the initial rush of shock from her bedroom suddenly exploding had passed, a crawling lurch of disappointment was what followed, draining the girl utterly of passion and energy. What had just happened went beyond a simple failure. It had been a catastrophe. Akko could sense her mind switching to some basic routine of simply being fed up with the whole thing. It was so irritating not even an inkling of enthusiasm was left inside her, not even to pick herself up from the dusty floor.

"Hey, Akko…" The brunette snapped partially back to reality at the sound of Lotte gently calling her name. She could feel her expression had dulled into a darkening frown, and was unsuccessful at forming any kind of reassuring smile when she locked eyes with Lotte.

"I'm sorry…" Akko rasped out, a bothersome sting of small tears itching at her cheeks. The Finnish girl offered a kind, knowing smile. She didn't reply with words, instead getting to her feet as Sucy did the same from Akko's opposite side. Her friends each took firm hold of one of Akko's arms and gingerly tugged the girl upwards to help her stand. Though her knees felt ready to buckle, Akko managed to remain upright. "Thank you, Lotte, Sucy…" She said her sincere thanks and fought back the stubborn tears threatening to burst out with a touchy snort, her gaze downcast to peer at her own feet. "You guys really are the absolute best…"

The very same tears of disappointment she thought had relented came back in force, and that time Akko wasn't going to be able to hold them at bay. She must've looked like such a stupid kid…blubbering in crying failure. Akko couldn't feel that fire in her heart that routinely scorched away the sadness that time. There wasn't even a spark there to help her pretend she wasn't feeling utterly defeated.

Just as those tears reached a zenith of no return, Akko felt a pair of hands gently settle on each of her shoulders, prompting Akko to look up from staring at her shoes to see Lotte and Sucy smiling cheerfully at her.

"Akko, you don't have to thank us. Or apologise. This is just what we do. It is a little inconvenient when there's mishaps, but really, this kind of thing happens all the time to Witches growing up with magic. You're only making the same mistakes we all made a little later down the path, that's all." Lotte stated with a soft warmness swimming in her cerulean eyes, squeezing Akko's shoulder just a little to affirm her kind encouragement. "Why don't you look for some extra help with the spell? You can leave this clean-up to me and Sucy. And if a teacher comes about, we'll take the blame for all this."

"Yeah, I'll just say one of my potions went haywire and exploded. Nobody should be suspicious of that. My grades are a lot better than yours so I can afford to get into a bit of trouble." Sucy added wryly, wearing a short smirk that bared a short line of her sharp teeth. "And cleaning this mess up will be no problem if we also ask Diana for some help."

Akko uttered a little sniffle at their kind understanding, finding a comfy centre in her heart at their smiles that sparked the brunettes confidence back into sway. She still wavered at her failings, but the moments of it relentlessly dragging her down to the pits was done, at least for then. Holding that fragile hope together, Akko managed a reassuring smile and nod towards her friends, to which they eased their hands from her shoulders and stepped back, allowing the brunette some room to compose herself properly. Being a weekend the hall outside their room was empty, leaving the exchange between the three girls unseen and unheard. Akko found that silence made her uneasy.

"I wonder what else I can do though…" She found herself muttering in that quiet. "Even Diana wasn't able to help me with this spell the other day. It feels like this kind of magic just doesn't fit properly with me. Like I'm trying to squeeze my energy into a shape I can't see…"

"Akko, why don't you try asking Professor Chariot for some help?" Lotte offered, dipping her head down to properly keep eye-contact with the Japanese girl who hadn't even noticed that her gaze kept drooping lower as she'd been speaking. "Didn't she teach you this kind of magic before? Maybe there's some trick to it that she can assist you with?"

Akko perked up at the mention of that name. It was definitely a good idea. More than worth a try. But there was…something else flitting about in her mind in regards to her idol and mentor. A deep concern that had settled in Akko's heart in the past week. In short, Chariot had…seemed to be drifting away from her day after day. She'd be lost in thought and distant; her gentle eyes clouded and heavy, never focusing on anything. Not even Akko, as the girl recalled the class she'd sat in with Chariot just the day before, where she'd tried to strike up a casual chat with her after the lesson was done, only to find herself nervously grasping at weak topics of conversation that fizzled out to nowhere, with Chariot all the while smiling patiently at her, offering non-committal replies. Akko hadn't understood at the time, but thinking back to the last time she'd seen her, the girl came to the conclusion that there was something worrying the Professor deeply. And whatever it was Akko was determined to find out. In the end getting help with that spell was actually a very small reason for her to go, but it was a reason all the same.

"Chariot…yeah! She'll know what to do. I swear I've seen her do this restoration spell on a clock before. If there is something I'm missing, then there's totally no doubt Chariot will help me find it!"

Akko left out the part of being deeply concerned about her aside. She didn't know why it was suddenly so compelling to keep it a secret. Maybe she simply didn't want to burden Lotte and Sucy any more, especially after taking up a good chunk of their weekend and capping it off with blowing up their dormitory. Still…Akko wanted to keep that interest in Chariots affairs to herself. She didn't _really_ know why, but it was what she settled on.

"She'll probably be in the Astronomy tower. I don't think she's been anywhere else outside of teaching our classes." Sucy chimed in with another nonchalant shrug. "I think she'll be free to help. So you better get going before I change my mind about taking the fall for all this."

"I agree with Sucy. I think it'd be best for you. But don't hesitate to rest a little if you need. You've been working too hard lately." Lotte said, ushering Akko away from the ruined door. "Leave all this to me!"

Akko let out a relieved laugh as she backpedalled away from her friends, exchanging curt parting waves with them as she did so. She still felt somewhat guilty leaving them like that, but she swore to herself she'd think of something super cool to thank them for all their help.

"I owe you guys big time! I promise I'll make it all up to you!" She exclaimed before tearing off down the empty hall as fast as her nervous, shaking legs could take her. Akko was again unsure why she was feeling such a tense anxiety whilst making a beeline to the Professors quarters. It wasn't just from her concern for her mentor was it…? Akko…just wanted to see her…to be noticed by her the way she used to be. To have Chariot wear that kind smile again…to smile at Akko…

But why did something like that make her feel so strange…?

In the midst of her daze of uneasy thoughts, Akko had managed to find herself in front of the door leading to Professor Chariots room. Right there, a mere knock away from confronting her rising vexation, Akko felt that every spark of courage she had previously gathered within her had melted away, leaving her gut tightened in worry and not much else.

"C'mon, get a grip, Akko. You've done this heaps of times before…" She hissed at herself under her breath, adding a crisp pinch to her thigh that refocused her with its sharp pain. " _Yow_ …! Ok. Ok. Let's do this."

Without giving her psyche a chance to childishly change her mind and send her running to the hills, Akko swallowed a lump in her throat and knocked on the door three times, making sure to put enough oomph in each tap that Chariot would have to hear it.

A minute passed in silence, save for a distant howling of winds picking up outside. The weather wasn't reaching her from there, but a shudder rippled across her shoulders anyway. The sudden chill in the air grew a doubt in her mind that Chariot wasn't there after another minute seemed to pass, and the cold nipping her bare legs was making her uncomfortable just standing there.

Muttering a sad sigh that shuddered minutely on her lips due to the cold, Akko shifted an inch from her feet in surrender, but froze in place when she heard something rattle out from behind Chariots door.

"Eh?"

Her curiosity piqued, Akko edged in front of the frame and went on her tiptoes, peeking through the little window. The lights were on inside, and everything looked normal enough, but Akko couldn't see Chariot from that narrow view. Maybe Alcor was fluttering about and had knocked something over? That idea was quickly squashed when another much louder _whump_ sounded through so abruptly that Akko shrieked and nearly tumbled down the steps she'd clambered up from.

Soundlessly thanking the spirits that her balance had held out, Akko took a chance and moved back over to the door, this time rather boldly taking a grip of its handle and pushing on through.

That time, Akko got a proper look of the room. And it was a disastrously cluttered mess. So much so that a few nondescript scrolls and books wedged against the door kept it from swinging open even half way. Squeezing inside through the gap, Akko cautiously tiptoed past all manner of instruments, papers, and occasional masses of what looked like splattered fruits amongst the debris.

"What the heck is this?" Akko said aloud, peering around at the disaster area with her lips slightly agape. She was as much taking in the level of mess as looking for Chariot, but she couldn't find any trace of the latter…

Akko was starting to get deeply worried; the sensation worming its way around her stomach like an alarming sickness. Had Chariot been attacked? Was that why her office was destroyed? Maybe some kind of illuminati had broken in to try and steal something? Whatever scenario her mind conjured up didn't matter, Akko realised as she started to stride around the room, searching intently for any clue as to where her Chariot was. Finding her was all that mattered! She had to be safe!

Just as Akko had fired herself up for a potential search and rescue mission to save her master from the clutches of an unknown evil, Akko whirled about to yet another scuffle of sound and movement just behind her.

Spinning on her heel with a yelp, Akko took in the owner of the noise at her feet; a rather large mound of haphazardly stacked papers was shifting about as something moved from beneath it.

And there, with absolutely no ceremony, Chariot Du Nord groggily appeared from underneath the material mess; sitting up _very_ slowly from her back into a upright sit like she was a vampire rising from a coffin after ten thousand years…

Chariot definitely looked the part in that regard, Akko noted in concern, taking in the sight of her Professor's battered mess of hair that resembled an explosion frozen in time, her heavily stained Witch attire dotted with splotches of unknown liquid, and the spent look of exhausted dejection plastered on her numb, drooping face.

Her half-lidded eyes were glassy and unfocused, staring forward at a spot by the wall and apparently failing to spot Akko at all who was basically standing a few feet from her.

"Chariot…?" Akko called out, her nerves seizing up when the woman whirled her gaze to her in an instant, her crimson eyes widening in shock. There was a brief flare of delighted recognition in Chariot's look, but that quickly shifted to a sad, sheepish frown. Was that…disappointment Akko could see in her? Was her Professor unhappy to see her?

"A…kko…" Chariot rasped out, staring at the girl blankly. "I'm sorry…I thought you were someone else…"

Akko shook off the astonished surprise of finding her Professor in such a state, instead focusing her energy to try and help her any way she could. The fact that Chariot had looked… _sad…_ to see her still itched in the girls mind.

"Professor, what happened to you? It looks like you summoned a tornado in here. No, _two_ tornadoes! And they fought in the middle of the room." Akko weakly joked with a nervous chuckle, noticing a slight sheen on Chariots cheeks from…dry tears maybe. "Are you hurt? C'mon let me help you up. It looks really uncomfy down there."

Chariot blinked hard, her eyes lighting up as if noticing who she was talking to for the first time. "Akko! I…this is…yes, please help me stand…I'm feeling unwell…"

The crimson-haired Witch reached her hands out shakily, prompting Akko to quickly take hold of them, lifting Chariot upwards with a lot more difficulty than she had expected. She was heavy! This of course lead to the predicament of Akko hefting the woman to her feet, only to realise her Professor was teetering dangerously towards Akko, her bleary face blank in half-conciousness.

"ChariOOF!" Akko sucked in deep strained breaths at the sudden exertion of keeping her Professor from falling on top of her and possibly crushing Akko into dust. "You're falling! Hey!"

Too damn _heavy!_ As Akko grimly wrapped her hands around Chariots waist she planted her feet into the floor to steady against the immense weight. It really did feel like the woman was carved out some kind of dragon rock as she barely held Chariot upright, who now seemed to have suddenly fallen asleep again, draping her frazzled head over Akko's right shoulder.

"Aw, crap! What now?!" Akko wailed to herself, her limbs now burning painfully from the task. A sudden woosh of air rushed past her, guiding Akko to look at the form of Alcor perched on a bookcase nearby. With a screech the familiar bird jutted its beak at the far corner of the room, where Akko noticed Chariots small modest bed resided; thankfully well-made and free from the messy horror of the rest of the place. "Ok! That's a start! Thanks, Alcor!"

Uttering a deep, caveman-like grunt with every step, Akko somehow managed the feat of carrying Chariots limp form through the dredge of items clattering away from her feet as she moved, eventually _mercifully_ reaching the bed before long. With a dramatic exertion of breath, Akko allowed Chariots body to slide from her weakening grasp and flop down onto the bed ungracefully.

With her heart racing and all energy depleted, Akko took her time adjusting Chariot into the tiny bed; settling the pillow under her head, picking up her left foot from dangling off the edge, and eventually managing to yank the covers out before gently placing them evenly over Chariots weary form.

Alcor took that moment to swoop past Akko again, this time deftly settling some kind of bottle on the dresser next to Chariot and then fluttering over to sit on the perch of an empty chair at the foot of the bed. Akko glanced at the bottle, and though she had never done anything of the sort in her life, she was savvy enough to notice a powerful drink when she saw one. The toppled glass spilling the blue drink on a piece of parchment on the floor nearby painted the rest of the picture.

"Ahh, right…" Akko murmured, feeling a sudden wash of relief. She was still worried and concerned about what had forced Chariot to drink herself into a destructive stupor, but at the very least it meant her mentor wasn't gravely sick or under attack or anything like that.

The winds picked up outside, rattling the windows slightly in its strongest throes. In the midst of that howling weather, Akko couldn't seem to move from Chariot's bedside, intently listening to the increasingly soothing sound of her slow, whispered breathing. The confusion and pain that had been etched in the woman's features before had slackened in that moment of rest, leaving Akko to stare at that serene, sleeping face with equal measures of relief and…something else.

Why was she still looking at her? That was rude considering Chariot was completely out of it! And probably in the rut of a mighty hangover too. Still, to see her like that; vulnerable and hurt, Akko felt no qualms about ignoring what she was _supposed_ to be doing, that is just leaving Chariot to her rest. She didn't want to leave her alone. Or, if Akko wanted to be honest with herself, it was as much about how much she was pining for her cherished idol's attention.

She'd been a little dense, chalking up her worsening grades and sudden lack of magical prowess to just feeling off. But there, standing in that silent room, enraptured by Chariot sleeping in front of her, she saw the truth of that situation.

Akko was hurting. More than she'd been able to bear, even if she hadn't understood why in the past days and weeks. Suddenly becoming invisible to Chariot had sapped away her spark, her joy, piece by fragile piece. That gentle aura, those wise guiding words of hers that had set Akko on her path no matter how many times she faltered away from it. To have it all seem to vanish was crushing for the girl. And the worst of those thoughts chattered away that Chariot was sick of her. Wanting to move on from the exhausting task of dealing with her...

No! She wouldn't start thinking like that! Akko just missed seeing her. Bad. Really bad. But admittedly, it was starting to feel strange that she hadn't looked away once since she'd settled her eyes on her. Her longing to reconnect with Chariot would have to stand aside a little longer. She was still confused and clouded, unsure what it was exactly that she wanted, but in the end she was able to will herself to move away from her Professor with an arduous, uneasy gait.

She'd taken one step away from the bed when she heard Chariot whisper something out. The room had been so quiet Akko had understood clearly:

 _"...please, love me…"_

Her neck prickling from nervousness, Akko slowly turned back to look at the woman. Chariot's eyes were still shut firmly, her breathing gradual and cadent in obvious sleep. Small, fresh tears dotted in the corners of her eyes, shifting down the sides of her pale, slender cheeks; dashing tiny wet marks into the pillow beneath her as they fell away.

Still watching her with growing disquiet moving about in her heart, Akko sincerely wished Chariot had been awake to say that to her. Even so, Akko leaned in close, gently parting a few misplaced bangs away from the woman's eyes and placing a soft kiss on her forehead, lingering there for only a moment before pulling away slowly.

"...you didn't need to ask, Chariot…I'll…be here when you wake up…if you'll have me around..."

Akko stepped away, promptly feeling some kind of goo squelch disgustingly under her foot.

"But first, why don't I clean this place up for ya?"

=][=

 **AN: Yaay~ I did it. Initially I was struggling to make this work, but the more I wrote the easier it seemed to flow. Next chapter I can really start to dig into the heart-to-heart. Should be a treat to write, and I hope you'll stick around to read it. Thanks all for tuning in! I'll update this weekly or faster if I can. All the best, everyone!**


	3. Kagari

_Yowza, took me a bit longer than I thought to update. Sorry guys. Had a fair bit of odd trouble on my end. But that stuffs boring! I should be on a more reasonable schedule for a while at least. Enjoy all!_

 _Reader Replies oi!_

 _Super Attorney: Alright, hope I don't squander it. Cool avatar. Ciri is awesome._

 _Oscar: Thanks for the reviews. I like your excitement!_

 _Felix: A-hah! You weren't an idiot at all, friend. I actually rewrote and added a few paragraphs based on your first review. I did see where you were coming from, that I rushed a bit of the development. I always take feedback to heart, so thanks a million for yours :)_

 _Syaoran Li Clow: Welcome. I'll do my best to make this thing work. It's an experimental piece, so it might be rough, but I hope you continue to read it. Cheers all the same._

 _TDawn: Yeah, I saw someone get up like that once after a Christmas thing. I was trying not to laugh but then she just lay back down to sleep the same way and I lost it. And hey, thanks for sticking around! Your encouragement makes me happy._

 _CharmedTheVampireSlayer: Thanks again for the kind words and feedback. Always good to know there are fans of this kind of pairing. PS: I miss Buffy and Charmed…they were so much fun :P_

 _YourIntelligence: Hm, I see what you mean. I always find myself going light on character interactions for some reason, I can get carried away painting a scene, that I don't paint the words. Wow, that sounded pretentious, haha! Thanks as always for reading and reviewing my work. Apologies I haven't been able to Hunt much, would love play more. You take care now :)_

 _thaisdavila: Yep, that's the idea I had in mind to shape this story. I'm happy you're loving this. Please enjoy another slice!_

 _=][=_

 _Ok, this chapter might be a little dark, but I'm not planning on making this a twirl into a tunnel of despair and terror nu uh no way. Not my thing. So, please let me know what you think of this one guys! And…away!_

The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord

 _Kagari_

Chariot Du Nord was sitting at the usual bench in the courtyard of the Academy, quite clearly impatient in doing so as the girl fidgeted out every crease in her skirt and uniform three times over. She ran a hand through her short flare of ruby-crimson hair for good measure, but no matter how much she tried to occupy herself with pointless preening, the wait for her dear friend to arrive remained tortuous. Just what in the world was taking Croix so long? Chariot had clearly told her 5pm after class at their expected spot, and the taciturn girl had agreed to meet her after checking out some books on the applications of spirit energy. In Chariots entirely biased opinion, Croix was easily the most shrewd and intelligent girl in that entire Academy, faculty included. She'd never missed a class, never even been close to late for a lesson, and when it came to entertaining Chariot's self admittedly troublesome requests, meetups and general mischief, Croix Meridies was as reliable as they came. No, even more so. Like the sun rising in the morning…

…but not that day. Just where was she? Chariot had more than stressed how important it was that she speak to her at that specified time. Of how much it would mean to Chariot to hear out one simple thing. Just one thing. The… _only_ thing of any real importance to Chariot in that point in time. Regardless of the reason Croix hadn't shown up, Chariot was through impatiently twiddling her thumbs, and with a huff, the girl leapt off the bench in order to seek her out.

What she thought would be a simple task quickly proved fruitless, especially so considering that there happened to be no one else attending Luna Nova Academy on that day. A fact which was disconcerting all on its own. That anxious feeling only grew uneasily as Chariot's pace quickened to a jog as she passed through hall after hall, room after room, and with no sign of Croix anywhere. No sign of _anyone._

After what felt like an afternoon passed by with Chariot essentially sprinting throughout the entirety of the school, the girl came to the painful conclusion that she was utterly alone there. But she wouldn't stop, even as the sounds of her shoes clacking against the marble floors echoing out came to be the only sound she could hear at all. The place wasn't just deserted…it was eerily silent. Not even the wind, no birds chirping. The quiet magnified the sound of the girls sharp, panicky breathing in her ears, the rapid chorus not helping at all in keeping her composure. In fact, Chariot was beginning to feel a terror, like an oily snake biting its way into her chest, whispering soundless words that she did not want to hear. Her doubts, her fears, hissed in her own voice and no way to block them from crawling about in her aching mind.

 _Where are you_

"Stop! Stopstop _please_ just stop!" Chariot pleaded in a wild shout, running off into yet another empty hallway with no destination in mind. She just wanted to find someone. To hear anybody's words reach her. It didn't matter who…but she saw nor heard a soul in that place. Making it all the worse as that voice punctured through the tissue of her own soul with its words, stabbing at her heart. It was her own voice. Chariot Du Nord's most wretched side of herself…

 _Where are you_

"I said STOP! Why are you making me hear this?!"

 _I hate you and you are alone_

"...Please don't say that to me…"

 _Hate you Hate you oh I Hate you_

"STOP IT! Please~!" Her cry ended in a warbling wail that rang out far louder than it should have, stunning the girl to collapse on her knees after her bout of pointless sprinting. "Don't make me hear this…don't make me-"

 _Alone again. Hated again. Your fault. Your failure._

" _Noooo…!"_ Chariot was begging now, lying her hands flat on the floor of an unknown room, head bowed low with a starlight of tears dotting the ground. "No more. No more, please…"

Whether or not the voice relented to her pitiful plight, the words came to an abrupt halt. Silence greeted her again, and though she was painfully thankful for it, Chariot found there was no real comfort to be found sitting there collapsed on her knees with harsh cries blurting from her lips amongst breath after heaving breath. What else could she do? Everything that used to make sense to the girl did no longer. Every piece of her was broken. Just breathing was painful. Existing was…unbearable _._

A sensation of numbness took over her body then, coiling about Chariot in a snap cold that drew her attention away from her tortured thoughts, namely to the room she had ran into, and the lone figure seated at a desk at the far end amongst the students rows. Chariot didn't recognise the person at all, but it was definitely a woman, and judging from the faculty Witch attire, a Professor of that school.

Somehow Chariot knew that if she continued to sit there in that silence, that voice would come back to corrode her will further, perhaps more so than she could fathom or return from. In that desperate bid to distract herself from that, Chariot ambled slowly across the aisles of seats towards the woman, suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to work her feet, like every step she took plunged lower than it should have on a floor that seemed to be anything but flat. The air itself clung heavy around her, bitter with a form of dread that screamed at her to stay away. But even if Chariot could heed that call, she already found herself in front of that desk, anxiously staring at the brim of that drooping hat, wondering whose face was under it. _Terrified…_ of who was under it…

"Where is everyone…?" Chariot timidly asked the woman, keeping a few wary paces between them so that she still stood on the lower steps leading up to the desk where the woman sat. "I'm scared…I'm all alone…can you help me?"

With tense, unnatural slowness the woman raised her head to look at the girl, revealing her face from beneath her hat in the process. Immediately Chariot saw through those glasses, that mane of light-azure hair, that miserable mewling look of self-pity; the girl was looking at herself. Her true self, and suddenly her anger flared hot in her chest at the mere sight of her, as if every moment she spent staring at her was slowly driving a splintered stake into her heart.

"I'm sorry for what I did." The woman, 'Ursula' whispered out sadly, unable to look into Chariots eyes. "It's my fault there's no one here any more. I took a risk I shouldn't have, and…and now there's no coming back from it…she'll be lost in the desert, and then we'll have absolutely nothing…"

Now trembling with fury, Chariot bounded across the short distance between them and clutched her hands into the hems of Ursula's uniform, yanking the taller woman to her feet so roughly the fabric tore beneath her nails. She couldn't stop herself from screaming in the woman's face as she shook Ursula frantically, knocking her hat off but garnering not even the slightest change of emotion from the abrasive action.

"DON'T YOU SAY THAT! You don't know me! You don't even know Croix! You're just a joke pretending to be me! So SHUT UP! S-Shut the _FUCK_ UP!"

Ursula went limp in her hands, eyes glazing over as she teetered backwards and forced Chariot to release her violent grip on her clothes lest she go catapulting to the ground along with her.

Despite the sting of sudden hatred, Chariot internally winced as Ursula loudly crashed to the floor, breaking apart the chairs beneath her that thanklessly met her fall. Falling back a little with a few hurried steps, Chariot wasn't able to see the sight of the fallen woman behind the desks. Any curiosity about the state of her was drowned out by a renewed fear that hissed in her mind frantically; begging Chariot to leave the room that had fallen cold and heavy, making simply breathing that unnatural air a painful task.

Over behind the desk where 'Ursula' had fallen, Chariot heard awful sounds; a chattering of hundreds of different voices spitting and howling over each other. That noise alone sent Chariot scampering backwards towards where she thought the exit to that room was, not for a second daring to look away from the source of that horrid song, somehow believing the moment that happened the creature hidden in the back would launch screaming right through her. Terrified, a wall met Chariot's quivering shoulders and though she scrambled her hands about its surface for a way out, there existed no such thing in that cruel realm. It left Chariot with no escape, and all she could do was watch as the bone-white monstrosity slithered and spasmed over the desks and chairs, laughing and screaming with countless bug-eyed copies of her own face boring their frenzied stares upon Chariot.

The creature barely had a form as it moved. It was everything and nothing all once. Chariot could barely comprehend any more as the piercing screams from the abomination cruelly drowned out her own, crushing the girl to collapse painfully on her knees as she clutched desperately at her ears to block whatever possible. Looking at the monster even for that split-second threatened to break her, and so Chariot squeezed her eyes as tightly as she could, hugging herself close to her knees.

Shaking and weak, Chariot couldn't scream any longer. The maelstrom of voices reaching a fever pitch as the creature closed in all around her, devouring the remaining light in its jeering thrall of glinting jaws.

"...please, love me…"

Her own voice. Somehow she'd heard it over the abominable noise. But that was why…

Another presence moved about that darkness, Chariot could feel it. She still couldn't dare a look, the terror of those faces and eyes could still be there, ready to destroy her after their awful ploy worked.

But then Chariot felt something soft touch her forehead, a sensation so gentle the woman could practically feel its warmth and love play and dance around her. Guided by that essence, Chariot let herself float backwards to lie down on something familiar, a welcoming and soothing comfort.

There was no monster then. Only Chariot, and that merciful light easing her pain. Had someone heard her words? Or more aptly…answered her prayers? Who could it possibly be? Whom saw fit to respond to her pitiful plea for love, right when Chariot needed someone the most?

Regardless, the woman welcomed that peace and solace, too exhausted and too relieved to bother opening her eyes or wipe away the fresh slicks of weary tears. She simply allowed that presence to watch over her as Chariot drifted into a silent realm of sleep, one free from her own horrid thoughts.

Even as her mind and body dipped slowly unto that much-needed rest, Chariot could still feel that presence of Love wrapped around her warming body, like tranquil whispers that said all that needed to be said to ease her. A wonderful glowing sensation gripped the woman then; a feeling she thought lost to her horror of doubt.

Chariot felt Love again.

She was…so tired then. But she didn't feel alone…

It didn't matter whom had come for her. That merciful Love was everything she needed.

=][=

Chariot awoke blearily but felt no strength within her to move, instead relishing the familiar comfort of her tiny bed coddling beneath her in a satisfying way. Her covers too seemed to be gently tucked about her drained limbs, leaving her wrapped and cosy lying there on her back. A glut of sickness still bubbled away in her gut; a grim and lingering reminder of her recent mistakes. She'd drank far too much, but that was the least of it when the scattered recollection of what had happened between her and Croix refreshed in her thoughts, stinging the woman with another jolt of pain.

So she'd drank herself silly after her confession to the woman she loved wasn't returned. And in her opinion, Chariot had selfishly chosen the worst time to reach out to her; right on the cusp of some terrible quest Croix was about to undertake…all for her sake. Wincing at the thought with a slight tug of her covers, Chariot cursed herself at not having the foresight to simply wish her dear friend all the luck and grace in the world. Instead she'd perturbed and confused her with the confession, at a time when Croix simply didn't need that kind of thing to weigh her down! How much more dense could she get…?

Slight sounds from the room about her interrupted Chariot's internal conflict. There were shuffling motions as someone moved about her quarters casually and unhurried it seemed. A soft hum danced in the air as well, and from that curt sound alone Chariot could recognise who it was.

Akko had come for her…

That light, that warmth that had eased her from that horrid nightmare…it had been her. Chariot continued to lay in her bed, still too exhausted and sick to move all the same, and listened to the subdued sounds of the girl busying herself with some task; her always chipper voice sounding off in a hush to keep the quiet. How sweet of her…

"Right…that should do. Thanks, Alcor. Bird familiars are great at cleaning I guess…! Maybe you can clean my room too? I'll give you a _whooole_ jar of pickled plums. Birds like those, right?"

Alcor seemed to reply with a series of uppity clicks of his beak.

"Ahh, fine geez. Anyway, thanks for delivering that letter to the girls. I didn't want them to worry about me. It still kinda sucks I left them to fix that mess, but I'll make it up to them. It's not like I got out of cleaning duty myself, huh?"

Chariot heard Akko giggle to herself at that, followed by a flutter of wing-beats when Alcor made the short flight over to her bed and perch at the foot it, nipping his beak expectantly at her. _Oh crap,_ Chariot thought. Pretending to be asleep wasn't going to last at all.

"Hmm, Alcor?" Akko called out. Chariot heard her shuffling over and tensed in her bed, gripping her sheets a little. Truth was she was still feeling wretched and ashamed, she didn't want Akko to see her in that condition…but of course the poor girl had probably seen plenty of that in simply being there to assist her. "Oh! Is she awake?"

The footsteps halted at her bedside, and with great physical and emotional difficulty Chariot willed herself to open her eyes and take in the bright, shining smile of her student and friend.

"Chariot!" Akko's smile somehow beamed brighter. Those rouge eyes of hers sparkled in a joy that must have sprung from nowhere, Chariot wondered. How could the girl look so happy to see her Professor splayed out on a bed after a hangover? Always with the unexpected, that Akko…

"Akko, hello…" She greeted with a rasp in her voice, feeling as if her throat was made of worn cardboard. Gradually Chariot sat herself up to rest her back on the bannister of the bed, watching as Akko stared at her every move. The girl was leaning forward on her toes, looking about ready to excitedly launch into a bold hug at any moment, a move that the girl probably wouldn't hesitate to do if Chariot had been in better condition. Why was Akko so pleased to see her? She'd expected the girl to be perhaps annoyed and disappointed, especially after taking up what felt like an entire day of hers to clean up the embarrassing mess she'd made of herself. But there Akko remained…grinning ear to ear like it was any other day, her boundless energy brimming about and oddly energising Chariot's own with every passing moment. "It seems I…well…I don't know what to say. Except…thank you. Thank you for taking care of me…"

Akko leaned back on her heels, swaying on them childishly. "Aww, it was nothing! I'm just so happy to see you awake, Chariot! You…you uhhhh…"

Akko's bright smile dimmed a little as she nervously dipped her head sideways and glanced at a spot on the ceiling before continuing to speak.

"You did some drinking, huh? Probably a lot. I kinda understand, sometimes people do this kind of thing for fun…or…y'know…"

Akko trailed off, picking a different spot on the ceiling to anxiously stare at.

"...sometimes it's because you're hurting…right?"

Chariot felt a few weak explanations, comfortable lies, tumble about in her thoughts but had no urge to put them into words. In her silence, the woman held her gaze on the girl and struggled a smile to form, but the sudden tears welling up in her eyes betrayed her. Chariot fought back the crying proper with a deep sigh, still unable to voice her emotions.

"Chariot-" Akko murmured suddenly, leaning forward and sitting herself on the bed besides Chariot's waist. The motion had been so abrupt Chariot tensed further, gripping her covers from beneath so tightly her palms started to sweat. Akko leaned in closer, laying an expectant hand on the bed. The girl wore a hardened expression of deep concern mixed with…something else the woman couldn't pin down, but she knew it was an emotion Chariot had felt many times before…

"Chariot-please talk to me. Something's hurting you, right? Please. I can be here, whatever it is, I can help you with it. You don't have to be alone. When…when there's something eating away at you, I think the best thing to do is just let it out, right? Otherwise…when you feel someone growing apart from you…someone that you care for…when you feel alone…"

Akko paused, leaning away a little; the hand she'd placed in front of her slipping away to rest in the other atop her lap. Chariot felt an unseemly sting at her pulling away like that…

"...I don't want you leave _me_ alone, Chariot. Maybe…maybe that curse that's on you…the one that's all my fault. You're realising how much it's taking away…and now you hate me for it…"

Chariot felt her lips part in disbelief at what Akko was saying. The girl had turned a little from her sitting position and was now facing away from her, but not enough where Chariot couldn't see the sad and miserable plight in her trembling face. It struck the woman then of just how little she'd interacted with her dear student in the past weeks; her anxiousness and infatuation with Croix obviously seeing to that. Chariot recalled a few cloudy memories of Akko trying to reach out to her after a lesson, her earnest grin shining and precious in its honesty, but the woman had failed to see it for what it had been at the time. Akko had reached out to her, wanting to be seen and noticed, and Chariot had ignored her…

She had left Akko alone.

"You're wanting to be alone. You saw what a waste of time it was teaching me, especially after I betrayed you at Wagandea and-!"

Chariot didn't want to hear another word. With a sharp cry she threw herself forward and yanked the girl into a powerful, shaking embrace, yelling out her true feelings over Akko's shoulder; her pained words ringing out throughout the room.

"NO! I betrayed _you_ , Akko! How could you forget what I did! Losing my ability to fly is nothing! It doesn't compare…especially after all the lies…oh Akko…I'm _sorry!_ I didn't want to make you feel alone…I didn't want to…"

Akko cried softly into her shoulder, tiny shudders from her small frame amongst her sharp breaths. In all Chariot's self-pity and sadness, she felt none of it mattered in the slightest compared to seeing that girl suffer any more than she had already. Just like in that waking dream, that beautiful warmth that had cradled her in that abyss, Chariot felt there was nothing more right in the world than to return that wondrous Love.

Chariot softened the hug but held the position gently, allowing the girl to finish her tears. After a few more minutes in that sincere embrace, Akko reluctantly peeled away her wrapped hands from her Professor, then sat herself back slightly as Chariot did the same.

Of course, Akko was a mess of tears, but she held an odd, nervous smile through that sadness. She gazed expectantly at Chariot, calming a little but still shaking a bit.

"W-wow…I uh, ok…I didn't expect all that to just come out like that, huh." Akko said quietly, shrinking a little from embarrassment and resuming to cup her hands on her lap tightly. She didn't look away when she continued speaking. "…Thank you, Chariot. Thanks for not forgetting about me. I think it was kinda silly I reacted like this…but I didn't know what else to do. I really did miss you. Really, like more than I've missed anyone before. Is that weird…?"

Chariot relaxed deeply as she sat back on the bed, returning an easy, gracious smile to the girl.

"No, of course not. It just shows how much you care about others. And it was wrong of me to allow my personal problems to cloud my duties as your Professor. I should've have seen you reaching out but I-"

"Ssh!" Akko abruptly shushed her, flicking a finger to her own lips for emphasis. A gesture made all the more adorable by the girls' sweet smile, despite the recent tears. "Let's make a promise: no more apologies. We can't stay stuck in the past, both of us have made that mistake before, huh? So…Chariot, will you let me stay with you? Can you trust me to help you through whatever is going on?"

Chariot went taut and upright from her sitting position, wary of how she was noting that Akko had seemed to have moved herself closer and closer as she'd spoke. The girl, visibly tense and nervous herself, waited to hear her answer. But there was also that fire of determination blazing in Akko's eyes.

Chariot still hesitated to tell her about what happened. It was all so very personal…the kind of thing that can't be taken back. As far as the woman knew, Croix was the only person on that Earth who knew about her…inclination. How would Akko react to such a truth? It didn't feel appropriate…

Akko didn't look away, and didn't seem at all about ready to budge from that spot. She wanted answers, and like most things the excitable girl wanted, Chariot felt there was very little she could do to stop her getting them.

In all honesty…Chariot was already bursting to tell Akko everything. Perhaps it was selfish and unwise to do so, but she had no urge in the slightest to tell any more lies. To Akko or anyone else. If things changed between them after the truth, then it was up to the stars what happened next. All the same, her heartbeat picked up tempo as she gazed back at the girl; its pace quickened by a strange…excitement. Or was that fear? Fear of what exactly, Chariot pondered…

"Alright, Akko. The truth. It's the least I can do for now after helping me. I'll keep your promise to do away with the past, but I need you to promise me what I tell you is to be kept secret. Yes?"

"S-sure!" She sat bolt upright before going rigid. Clearly the girl wanting to know her troubles went beyond simple curiosity. "I can keep a secret for serious stuff. You can trust me!"

Chariot chuckled at the girls' innocent motions, then she took a deep, steadying breath before letting it out in a dragging sigh.

And then she told her everything.

=][=

 _Sorry to cut it off here, but I wanted to get this piece out instead of delaying it even longer. Any good? Please let me know in a review!_


	4. Innocent Beautiful Shame

_Hello. I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment. Send hugs maybe :P_

 _Queen's Court of Royal Replies:_

 _CharmedTheVampireSlayer: Hey, thanks! Writing Akko like that made me fuzzy and I needed to give Chariot a break. For Buffy and Charmed, I just really liked Buffy herself. She kicked ass and was always a great friend, plus she was plain fucking cool killing monsters all the time. I remember crying when I thought she'd died at one point. With Charmed, Cole set me alight any time he was on screen. As insane as it was, his romance with Phoebe had me hooked like a fish. I miss when shows weren't afraid to be badass and weird like that haha~_

 _The Dragon Brothers: That nightmare bit, I wasn't sure about it at first but I think it fits into the context of what she's feeling. You say you went through a similar experience? Ah, didn't mean to draw a sadness out of you like that. I cry on occasion when I read or see something that hits home, sometimes it feels better afterwards. Sometimes not. Hope you go with the first one._

 _MagitekKnight Felix: Ahh, hey every little bit of constructive feedback is a nugget of gold in the pan. It might not seem like much but trust me, any writer worth their salt appreciates it. Interesting tidbit about the director of the show seeing himself in Chariot the most, and it's a lot like how I feel too. She's definitely my favourite character in the show. And congrats on the account. Your Knighthood is complete!_

 _Your Intelligence: Oh you, come on! You always put a smile on my face with your nice reviews. I don't what else to say but Thank You. I really mean that, eh? :) You're such a nice person._

 _Syaoran Li Clow: Hey thanks for the feedback. I actually had to tone down that dream sequence a fair bit. I've written some horror pieces in the past and that seeped in and made things a bit more twisted than they needed to be. I had to tell myself it was Little Witch not Silent Hill, yeesh. Hopefully you like this one._

 _Princess Lunna: Thanks and I hope you enjoy. Wish I could update quicker though._

 _Ok, almost to the end now. Have fun, guys!_

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Innocent Beautiful Shame_

"Of course! I _love_ Shiny Chariot!"

How many times had she quipped that phrase when asked about that special woman. Growing up, Akko's adoration for all things magic, and by extension Chariot herself, only seemed to grow stronger as the tidings of time passed by in a blur. Where most people would discard their frolicking dreams for a cold reality, and turn their backs on the heroes and mentors who shaped their being, Akko's powerful admiration for Shiny Chariot shone bright, even when everyone else's opinion dimmed harshly against her. Akko would even get riled up and defensive when such nastiness reached her ears, always stirred and willing to stand up for her, no matter the situation or opponent. They didn't believe in Chariots magic? Then Akko would show them something to _make_ them believe in it!

Her emotions would then run unchecked, a lot of the time spurring her to proclaim things out in the open with an energy that always led herself to do the most reckless, exciting thing she could think of. All this energy would come bursting forth, lit by that bright and glowing passion for a person she'd never properly spoke to until only recently.

There was one curious thing in regards to Chariot that Akko - with all her enthusiasm on the topic - never told anyone about. In her last year of attending high school, the girl had gone through a few weeks where she'd dreamt of Chariot almost every night. At first those unconscious moments remained benign and innocent enough, until sudden changes in the girl brought forth a kind of 'illumination' in how she saw that wonderful woman. Dreams of dancing and magic turned instead to soft whispers on her neck, fingers intertwined over her collar from a gentle tickling embrace from behind. A passionate gleam of crimson flaring in Chariot's eyes that ignited Akko's heart. That same gaze would flow closer to Akko's with every elevated breath, her nose tickling against Chariot's now, their lips closing together with a pining yelp of surprised joy from the girl-

She loved Chariot! But it was-

Those moments had come abruptly, and away they went just as quickly. Her upcoming graduation and hundreds of other petty but important things had helped willingly or no to put those odd thoughts about her idol aside. Just a phase in the end, she had told herself. People didn't talk about such things openly, but it was as normal a thing as butter on bread, right? People would eventually forget.

Akko had not. No matter how much time passed without really dwelling on it, those experiences never faded from her memory. But after meeting Chariot for real-not Ursula, but _Chariot,_ Akko's feelings for her transformed when the subject of her obsessions…and dreams…finally revealed herself. Her mask of trying to deny those emotions had broken easily when her idol had drifted away from her. Shiny Chariot was Akko's Fire. She always had been. Everything Akko was, and would become, she owed to her…

The girl was rattled and nervous with all those thoughts scratching about; a worryingly familiar tingle along her warming neck and cheeks only further confusing her. She couldn't stop herself from recollecting such things. Especially then as she sat on the side of Chariots bed, facing her earnestly and over-excited for what her Professor had to say. There was a slight tremble in her fingers that Akko hid as best as she could by gripping her clammy hands tight to her lap.

The sudden self-consciousness of how she looked to her idol only made it harder and harder to keep her cool with the seconds ticking by in an extended quiet, plus Akko was having increasing difficulty on finding things to pretend to stare at. Her gaze would always nestle on some angle of the woman's face as she took a few extra sips from some tea Akko had prepared for her earlier. That motion of her Professor slowly drinking from the cup, fluttering her eyes closed and tilting her head back, somehow had the girl entranced in its simplicity and elegance. When at last Chariot finished her tea and set the cup aside on the bedside dresser, she folded her hands and regarded Akko sweetly with a small but assuring smile. Something about her expression- maybe those striking red eyes willingly imprinted in her mind, jewels of her dreams and of her heart-

Chariot really was beautiful.

"Akko, thank you for being so patient with me. And for hearing out this foolish Witch's woes." Chariot began, causing Akko to momentarily forget to breathe lest she miss a single word. "There was an 'occurrence' yesterday afternoon. An event which I'd been procrastinating and fearful of ever since the wait began for it. It consumed me in thinking about a certain outcome…something that I've been wanting-no-desiring for many years. A need that I simply had to give a voice. And it was all about Croix."

Akko sat up a little at the mention of the familiar name, and noticed the sad twinge that briefly flickered on Chariot's thin brows from simply saying it.

"Her quest for a cure to the Wagandea curse had come to a dangerous turning point, one that the two of us agreed was reason enough that we celebrate together as friends on the real chance that she…well…"

Chariot's tone shook weakly, and her eyes arced downward with a sudden sadness, but before Akko could say anything to try and comfort her, the woman regained her composure with a sharp breath and continued speaking, though with a visible shade of pain.

"...that was the time I chose to confess to her."

Akko made a 110 percent effort to stem her reaction at hearing such a thing. Her body remained nervously rigid, but the shrill shriek of surprise that escaped her mouth for a good three seconds easily gave her away. Alcor still perched at the foot of the bed squawked loudly in agitation at the sound.

"E _eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh…!_ Whatwhatwhat! D-did you say confess?! Like, 'I love you' kind of confess? N-no way! Uh…uhh…so that must mean you're into g-g-gaahhh…"

Chariot waited for Akko to stop her babbling with a slender hand cupping her mouth, seemingly fighting off a bright chuckle at her antics. That reaction calmed Akko a little, at first the girl thought Chariot would be upset at her own childish response, but instead she seemed to have cheered her up.

"Ack…that wasn't any good of me. Oh, wow. I'm sorry! I really didn't expect that." Akko tried to apologise, unsure for what exactly as already her thoughts spun wildly in a flutter of bubbling images that distracted her; the sudden knowledge that her idol liked other girls influencing most of them. Chariot just bowed her head with a soft smile.

"It's fine, Akko. I never thought I could ever do it. So it's no surprise it came as a bit of a shock to you. But it's the truth. I love Croix, much more than simply as my friend. And I let her know last night."

A great big missing piece of the Shiny Puzzle clicked into place in Akko's brain when the realisation of what had happened became clearer to her. The drinking, the tears, the distant, sad state of affairs. That vulnerability…

Chariot was-

"She rejected me. Not in any spiteful way. Really she handled it far better than I ever could've guessed. But…that's what happened. Croix then left me alone to fulfil her promise…and…and…now I don't know if she'll ever come back. And I can't stop myself from thinking that my _idiotic_ confession would be to blame if that terror came to pass…"

Miserable sadness washed over her features, an abrupt emotion from those fresh wounds. Akko paused anxiously, hopeful that her mentor would recompose herself, but she saw Chariot's frame sink inwards and shake with sharp but quiet crying.

Akko understood. She could see it, that pleading look in those tearful crimson eyes. Like a lightning strike to her heart, the girl's confidence and spark ignited in a fearless frenzy. All for the simple purpose of giving that troubled woman all the joy in the world, just as she had done for her.

And there was that…other…thing. A sting in her thoughts it appeared and took form, showing her things the girl wasn't sure she was ready to see. But how exciting it was! How right. How so very wrong. How _perfect_ it was.

She just wanted to make Chariot happy! That was all! Why did those strange stirrings inside her make it all so confusing though? Knowing Chariot liked other girls…it had opened a path within her that had long craved to flourish outward in her soul, shaping an emotion as tremendous as it was terrifying.

Akko found she had boldly grasped her Professors hands in her own after scooting closer, quickly relishing their warmth and strength as her fingertips glided subtle motions across the contours of Chariot's soft palms.

Chariot only smiled back thankfully at first, her sadness visibly ebbing away as she relaxed into the sudden physical comfort and patted the top of Akko's hands to show her gratitude.

A minute passed and Akko felt no urge to pull her hand away. Her features only grew hotter along with her breaths now cloying thick in her mouth, drying it. The woman's easy smile faded, nervously vexing into a look of growing surprise.

"Akko…what…" She began, but said nothing more as her small lips remained parted. The glittering crimson pools of her eyes widening in nervous apprehension. The soft, clean features of her face took on an anxious air, close to her usual sheepish look, but there was a flush fervour and uneasiness mixed in. And there was one more thing that the girl saw in her Professors tense visage that spiked Akko's crazed energy further, stoking her reckless courage; a scandal of an emotion the girl knew she was showing on her own face for her idol to see unmasked:

A pining, lost craving…a longing Akko was consumed further by with every passing second of swimming in the striking red still glittering behind the peerless lens of Chariot's glasses.

"Chariot, can I **have** you?"

Akko's fiery spirit, picking her words with a terse confidence that surprised even herself. She couldn't believe she had just asked Chariot that! None of that situation even felt real at that point. Like she was watching herself from a dream; unable to control herself but more importantly…unwilling to do so.

"Have…me?"

The girl gripped Chariots hand a little tighter, but still gently. Akko shifted closer and Chariot couldn't hide the surprised, nervous gasp that hushed out. A glowing blush close to the shade of the woman's hair flared bright across her cheeks when Akko lifted Chariot's hands in her own; bringing their intertwined grips up to her lips where she planted a tiny dash of a kiss on the woman's palm. When Akko steadied her gaze on her mentor she saw Chariot staring back with an expression of nervous, frazzled shock. Only a few seconds of regarding those gorgeous features and Akko almost lost her focus in the glimmer of those elegant red orbs that had long bewitched her. She had to keep talking! Whilst that high and beautiful wave of crazy guiding her heart was still in motion!

"When I got scared thinking that you wanted to leave me…I remembered something about myself. And about you too. I never thought I needed to put a voice to what I was feeling, but the longer you weren't a part of my life, the louder that voice got until…until _now_ , Chariot. Now I can see why I always admired and idolised you. It's scary, and I don't understand why I can't stop myself. But I don't want it to stop…"

A whisper of hesitation flashes in Chariots features as she tenses and looks downwards at an angle, a nervous and tiny tremble on her soft lips as she says her name.

"Akko…"

"-because I love you Chariot. I don't want to see you sad and alone. I don't want you to leave me either. I want to have you all to myself!"

Chariot sighed slowly, still looking away. Akko noticed the woman pretend to adjust her glasses after freeing a shaking hand, already anticipating what Chariot was going to say: a safe and weak lie to protect her. Akko's wild energy helped her to see that nuance she never would've noticed otherwise.

"A-akko. I'm…very flattered of course. I know the fact that I'm Shiny Chariot is exciting to you, but p-please don't let that make you say things you don't me-"

"I've always felt so much for you! Any time people would talk crap I was there to defend you! Every time I even thought of you I get this surge in my chest that lets me do anything! Even after finding out all your flaws and mistakes, it…it only made me love you more. Because I completely understood what it's like to fall and pick yourself up like that. It made me feel closer to you…"

Chariot seemed to try and form a reply on her stammering lips but wasn't able to properly say anything. The woman just sat stock straight in tense nervousness, staring at Akko with a gape of disbelief as the girl glided even closer whilst keeping a firm hold of their connected hands held between them. Their faces were so close Akko could feel that odd tickling at the tip of her nose from Chariot's fluttering breaths.

"So when you called out from your sleep for someone to love you…" Chariot let out a sharp gasp of shock when Akko said that, but the girl kept going. "…I realised I've always wanted that person to be me."

Chariot managed to speak after Akko let a minute pass to allow her baffled Professor to compose herself. What she said actually caught Akko completely off guard, and the coy, shameful look the woman sent her way broke Akko's nerve along with it.

"...They won't understand."

It was Akko's turn to inhale sharply, and the sudden shaking wracking her shoulders flowed to her hands still wrapped tightly in Chariots own.

"I-it sounds selfish, Chariot. But I don't care if they ever do."

"My age…you're my student-"

"Don't care."

"I can't make you happy. There isn't-"

"You _can't_ know that."

"But Akko I-I…"

" **Chariot**!"

Akko had shouted the name, the loud tone of her yell breaking that spell of silence and stunning her Professor into quiet. When Akko spoke next, she focused the entire sum of her focus and raw nerve to stop the tearful warbling in her throat in saying her piece. There was something along with her confession that she had to get out, no matter how much it was going to hurt. Nothing of that experience would be fair to Chariot otherwise. Still, the pain she was already feeling in getting the words to tumble out was enough to drag Akko's gaze downwards to stare at her own knees pressed together and tucked beneath her.

"You can say No. There's nothing wrong in that." She said, her voice coming off in an unintended whisper that held Chariot in eager rapture anyway. "I'll be hurt. But I'll understand. If you really wanted to be alone I'm ready to-"

An item fell into Akko's lap, interrupting her. Her mind made it to be Chariot's glasses, but any thoughts further than that vanished into light when her Professor's face suddenly filled her vision, when the woman pressed herself trembling and eager into a soft kiss on the girls lips, her eyes shut lightly as if in a daze.

Akko moved subconsciously, mewling out a shaky noise into the sweet sensation of Chariot's taste. She shifted her hands from Chariots to instead wrap them around the back of the woman's silken neck, catching her fingertips gently in the mane of hair that felt like flowing water to her nervous touch. A flush of bright emotion intensified the kiss, spurring Akko to lean into Chariot as she sat up on her knees to arc slightly over her precious idol, coiling their embrace closer to run her hands smooth and slow along the small of the woman's back, all the while pushing and guiding her lips deeper into the savour of that kiss. A flim of moisture played on the edges of her mouth, a mixture of Chariots essence as well as her own, but it really mattered little as Akko pressed hungrily over it, shifting into her Professors lips with her own, tasting that impossible sweetness from every angle allowed to her.

She had no idea if she was doing it right. If it there was any right way to do what she was doing. The motions to it all seemed unreal, just like those dreams, but it all seemed to come to her naturally, drawn from a spot deep down in Akko's core that had probably always been there.

Eventually, Akko's shortening breath forced her to pull back from the kiss, gasping in a melodramatic rush of air as she threw her head back. She drew in a few clumps of precious oxygen and slowed her breathing slightly with each one. Her heart still hammered away and gave no inkling to wanting to slow down however.

"Waaah! Phew…hah…hah…" She managed to gasp ungracefully and focused her gaze on Chariot as the woman sat herself back, also breathing hot and heavy.

Chariot was curtly fastening her glasses back on her nose, looking mostly unperturbed aside from the permanent glow of magma-red still bristling on her features.

"I can't believe we did that." She stated breathlessly, staring wide-eyed at the girl. "…Akko, say something…"

The sudden heat of that moment had passed, cruelly taking Akko's stupendous confidence away with it. She didn't know what to say at all. A prickling embarrassment held at bay by her recklessness was knocking down all the walls in Akko's thoughts, rattling and confusing her. It couldn't have been real…had Chariot really kissed _her_? Or had Akko just smacked her head on the stairs outside the room to conjure such unbelievable things. The girl just didn't know, so she just spoke on instinct in the blur of that instant.

"Chariot, can I really stay? I'm not dreaming?"

Her Professor grew a wide smile that burst into an eager, joyous laugh that lit up Akko's heart with a tug of happiness at each wonderful punctuated sound.

"I think you know the answer to that."

Another surge of blissful emotion brought back those stubborn tears that had teetered close. She could still see Chariot's smile swim amidst the shimmer of her watering gaze.

"...can you say it…y'know… _that_?"

Akko barely heard herself say those words, wondering if perhaps she had imagined herself doing so. The silence that crawled along after was unbearable. It was too sudden for Akko to be expecting Shiny Chariot to admit something like-

"I love and adore you, Atsuko Kagari."

A jolt shuddered through Akko and she barely recognised the high-pitched wail of a cry escape her to be her own voice. Another stream of tears flowed freely, tickling the corners of her wide overjoyed smile as the wetness slid down her warm cheeks. Firm, graceful hands brushed across her shoulders and neck as the girl was guided weeping into the warm and soft oblivion of Chariot's chest. Her Professor rested her head atop Akko's, humming in a whisper a familiar tune that coaxed a stifled giggle to unexpectedly blurt out amidst Akko's cries.

"H-hey…" Akko pulled away a little, but held close still that their noses almost touched. "That's your show theme…I hear that in my head any time something really cool happens…"

Chariot emitted a soft, genuine giggle at that, ending it with a quick peck on Akko's forehead that sent little ripples of electricity all over her body and seemed to zap away any further tears, instead buzzing into an energy that made her feel invincible.

"It's a nice piece, isn't it? I wanted it to inspire others. I haven't heard it in a long-"

A sharp sound rang out through the room; somehow so simple and so terrifying at the same time.

Someone had knocked on the door.

Akko immediately and clumsily attempted to swing out of the bed, but the clean sheets boasted impressive smoothness that saw her butt glide straight off it and plant loudly onto the wooden floor. Akko couldn't stop the yelp of pain that accompanied it either, and right after doing so she fell into the closest to absolute silence she could, only sparing an instant of movement as she whipped her head over to glance at Chariot, who just like her was frozen in a state of panic.

"Excuse me, Professor. It's Diana. I heard some commotion just now, is everything alright?"

 _Diana_. Akko couldn't believe of all the people to show up out of the blue…then again she probably had been naive to think no one would show up at all. A more pressing matter that screamed in her mind was how much she tried to confirm with total certainty that yes, she had forgotten to lock that door at all.

"O-oh! D-d-Diana! Haaa…hahaha!" Chariot called out roughly, sounding far to peppy and forced. "Everything is fine in here! No need to worry! Whatisthewhat is it…that…how can I help you?"

A deafening pause in that distant exchange, and all Akko could do was sit there from yet another fall and try to breathe without making a noise. There was no way Diana would be fooled so easily.

"Well…I was looking for Akko, actually. I heard she was seeking your help on restoration magic, and I took the initiative to want to tutor her further on the subject as well. There are a few techniques I think will aid her greatly. Could you let her know next time you see her, Professor?"

"Yes, Diana! Of course!" Chariot replied quickly, eyeing Akko with a tense look that screamed _please let this work._ "I'll most definitely let Akko know when I see her! 100 percent!"

Chariot's panicky responses were too excited, too unnatural, and another extended pause from behind the door had Akko holding her breath entirely even as Diana spoke again.

"...Professor. Is there something happening? Are you sure you don't need help?"

"NO! I-I mean, n-no thank you. I'm just naked right now, you see!"

Akko clamped her mouth shut with her hands, battering back the guttural bout of laughter that nearly exploded out of her. From behind the door, Akko could hear a dull sound of something clattering to the ground, as if Diana had dropped everything she'd been holding. The follow up shuffling of picking up those mystery items off the floor accompanied Diana's guarded but still flustered reply.

"I see. That is sufficient reason to remain outside. P-please be considerate in avoiding a possible mishap such as that in the future. Conduct befits the student body, as well the faculty."

What a dry response, and it sounded a little 'off' to Akko too. Why was that?

"Yes! Of course. Thank you again for the concern, Diana!"

Akko and Chariot waited whilst still staring tensely at each other, still frozen in the same positions that stuck after the girl had flew off the bed. What was taking Diana so long to reply back? An odd doubt of some kind crawled in Akko's thoughts, still too clouded to make any sense.

"...I shall take my leave then. Until our next class, Professor."

More silence. Akko was sure Chariot was preening her ears to pick up on the sound of Diana's footsteps moving away just as she was, but that expected sound didn't come. Instead, Diana called out once more.

"There is one more thing I have to say."

Chariot's anxious brow arced to show puzzlement, and she seemed to hesitate responding at all.

"...Go ahead."

Akko heard a deep, drawn out sigh from Diana even that distance.

"Please give Akko my sincerest regards."

With that, the unmistakeable staccato sound of shoes clacking away back through the corridor rose a bile of dread in Akko's stomach.

Diana Cavendish had _sprinted_ away…

Akko could see that growing fear too on Chariot's face as the sound faded into the distance, leaving them both still sitting there in a moment that had moved far beyond simply awkward.

"...What happens now?" Chariot croaked, suddenly looking as sick as when Akko had first found her. "Diana she…well…what did I expect? Did she hear us?"

There was no way to know what to do. Nothing constructive came to her mind. Nothing much at all really. How weird…

The cold realisation that Diana Cavendish knew. That she _knew._ It numbed her. Only the task that just then came to existence helped to ease her rubber legs enough to straighten them out as the girl stood upwards, facing the door.

"I'm gonna go find her." She said, turning her head briefly to look to Chariot sinking back into her bed, looking lost and exhausted, almost on the cusp of sleep already. "I've got to tell her."

"I see. What will you say…?"

"What has to be said. Diana needs to know. She needs to understand!"

=][=

 _Yo! Welcome to the end for now. I'd love it if you took the time to write a review if you enjoyed it or otherwise. I learn so much about writing in that way that just doesn't happen reading my own work. Plus it just makes me really fucking happy, lol. All the same, Love you All._

 _-Queen_


	5. Together Alone, One More Time

_He-yo. I took too long to update again. I wish I had the drive do it as often as Kaponos, with his excellent Sukko Collection that I adore. Check out A Rose in Winter from him too, it has adventure, world-building and yuri-tease the likes of which I can't even. Highly recommended._

 _The Land of Replies Before Time;_

 _KeywordAwesome: As if this fic wasn't racy enough, lol. Would've made the show even better I think. Imagine the attention that kind of dynamic would draw, yikes! I'd dig it…_

 _Princess Lunna: Thank you for reviewing! Hope you like this one, your grace._

 _Heroh8termr: Thanks for the compliments! I'm always wary of how I write the dialogue, and its good to hear it flows nice and isn't OOC. I implore any critique if you think I slipped up in that regard._

 _MagitekKnight: *returns the hugs threefold*, Ahh, cheers friend! That in depth review was awesome, it made MY day for sure. You really seem to dig into how the story is unfolding, which shows how carefully you read it, and that's something I really appreciate. And heck, have another internet hug your way, just for the smile you put on my face :)_

 _Your Intelligence: You had a very fair critique, and yes that is definitely something I had to tussle with as I wrote it. I felt it could come off as too sudden for the relation to spur like that after a rejection. It was a risk, but I decided to keep that angle to give this fic a bit more of a faster pace. Planning this fic, I thought that if I simply separated them in that instance, then the proceedings would slow a fair bit, and be at risk of growing chaff in trying to cook up some other way for them to connect. Sill, every which way it goes is a learning experience for me, and I'm always glad to hear you being impartial with your reviews. Very much obliged for the support!_

 _Syaoran Li Clow: I'm glad that cliffy didn't put you off. Most of the time I don't really intend to end with one, but it's sooo hard to end a chapter sometimes that it just happens. And yeah, that confession was kinda WOAH, but I tried to make it work as best I could. Sudden love, in a moment of pain. Is that a thing? I hope so, or else my writing is a wreck, haha! Thanks for the input!_

 _PS: Have you watched the latest Cardcaptor Sakura? Is it any good? Haven't watched that show in years…_

 _Oscar: No trio, don't worry, and Diana won't be hijacking this. The Diakko Fleet is massive enough as it is. And yuri…hard? Hmm, I honestly don't know. I've never written something like that before. Especially with a pairing like this, would definitely be brow raising to say the least. Thanks for sticking around to read this, Oscar._

 _ShadowPony12: I'm happy you found a bit of a laugh amongst all this rolling angst. I try to inject just a bit of humour into a story to stop things getting too dreary. Doesn't always work, sometimes I can rob a scene of its impact with a misplaced tasteless joke, aka Last Jedi Syndrome. Glad that wasn't the case here. Also, I'm trying to picture what exactly a Shadow Pony would look like and now I want one._

 _CharmedTheVampireSlayer: Hey, welcome back! Diana's entrance did seem a bit contrived, I really wanted to shake things up quickly to keep from losing momentum. When it came to the cast of characters, I found she was the one whose reaction to the "Union" would be most dramatic. Hope you enjoy this one, and cheers for the review!_

=][=

 _Longer chapter this time, but hopefully not too long. Please leave a review if you enjoyed and or just want me to respond to your feedback. That's always its own fun to me. One quick note, certain portrayals of characters in this one might be a little upsetting to those passionate about specific status quos. Not my intention to anger anyone, but just a heads up, eh? Maybe I'm deliberating too much :P_

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Together Alone, One More Time_

What had she done? What in all the realms of existence had Chariot Du Nord done? That precious girl, Akko, the one who'd get stars shining unnervingly bright in her eyes at the mere mention of 'Shiny Chariot.'

She had kissed Akko. After her student had confessed to wanting nothing more in the world than simply being allowed to stay at her side; to fulfil a love that Chariot never anticipated but was immeasurably desperate and starved for.

Akko of all people. _Akko!_

She couldn't stop herself from injecting that name into her train of thought. Each time she spoke it internally a sudden gentle flush ebbed and weaved inside her, relaxing the Professors tense muscles as she sunk into her tiny bed.

Though her mind and body were battered, Chariot found no rest in that awful stillness, that loneliness. Eyeing the brown textures of a nondescript patch in the ceiling, she found no alternative than to face what she had to face.

The consequences of not just allowing, but **claiming** a kiss from a girl too young who was also her student and friend. It'd hadn't been an innocent peck on the lips either…they'd both pressed onto the other, tasting deep, wanting more, wanting... _that_! Even then an alluring flush still tickled across her neck, scratching away at her better judgement; begging to let all things be wrong if it meant she could feel that soft touch again.

But there, still stuck like tar in her thoughts the guilt and doubt did away with that most-impure of fantasies. And no matter how much she tried to mold and twist her actions, the efforts did nothing to stop the fear she felt for the both of them then.

Fear for them. And a shame just for herself.

The innocent love that Akko confided with her was a wonderful, graceful thing. It made Chariot feel like her blood could still flow, that her heart could still beat. From being shattered and alone, to feeling beautifully cherished. So kind, so unpredictable, that Atsuko Kagari…

But just like the flowing of waves, that emotion crested back from where it had rolled forth, revealing the layers beneath that now stung in the open light.

Chariot hadn't done the right thing. Her broken emotions from falling into miserable pity alone, the abrupt undeserved love from a girl born to defy odds and expectations…those things had warped her judgement. It made her act with total disregard for the rules and expectations as a Professor and an adult. How much more selfish could she get? First with Croix and then Akko…was she going to ruin everyone's lives? Was her being happy really worth what it would cost?

The memory of that kiss tickled vividly in her thoughts without any prompt. That sweet contact, despite the cliche, did taste of dancing, singing sugars still on her lips. The tempo of her heart kicked excitedly, spurring her further from sleep with a sudden warmth. Chariot breathed in Akko's air, her essence…sighing into it heavily, hungrily…she wanted to…

With a pained, frustrated shout Chariot threw that kind of thinking aside; figuratively slamming the door on the terribly uncouth things her subconscious wanted to see. For emphasis she'd scrunched her pillow tight onto her face and screamed another shaking cry into it; exhausting every last wisp of air inside her.

It was a mistake! All of it! What would people think? Even Headmistress Holbrooke, in all her lenient kindness, would never condone such a relation. The woman wouldn't tolerate Chariot as a Professor in that school at all if she found out. And with Diana having just eavesdropped on who knows how much of her recent encounter, that was a very real possibility. What in all the realms was Akko going to say to her? Was she simply going to ask Diana to keep a secret? Would Ms Cavendish ever allow it to happen in the academy, especially given her passionate adherence to the rules of Old Ways?

Akko, that poor, sweet girl. Chariot was going to have to break her heart. The fateless love was going to destroy them both if she didn't burn the bitter courage into herself to tell Akko she would take it no further.

It was her responsibility as an adult and as Akko's Professor. Her mistake to mend, even if she had to face the consequences fully on her own regardless.

 _Chariot can I have you?_

Akko was only confused. Her idol-complex was mixing with her growing up. If the girl was ready for that kind of relationship she'd be much happier with someone closer to her age, boy or girl it didn't matter.

 _I've always wanted that person to be me._

Chariot needed to come to terms with her loneliness. It was just another burden to bear; one that everyone had to deal with sooner or later. She'd gotten that far without someone to call her own. Wasn't that its own form of strength, however unsightly?

A short pause in her thoughts. Finally she'd found a moment of relative calm. Chariot shifted the pillow she'd half-smothered herself with away from her face, taking in a gradual gasp of fresher air.

Alcor fluttered close, perching himself on the chair at the foot of her bed. His feathers looked paler than usual, which went wearily with the familiars exhausted frown.

"Oh Alcor, forgive me for all this strife. You're too good for a disaster of a Witch like me."

The bird squawked back, disagreeing strongly. He told her she would always make mistakes, and that he was used to it. The familiars words reached her clearly, bridged by their connection. There weren't words per se, but enough nuance for Chariot to understand fully. It was a little surprising, as the bird hadn't talked much at all in recent years aside from 'I'm hungry', or 'I'm tired', and 'Akko annoying.'

"...I see. I really do repeat the past don't I?"

A sharp click of of Alcor's beak rang out. It wasn't anyone's place but hers to decide what those mistakes meant, or even if they were ever mistakes at all.

"I don't disagree, of course. But there's still one more 'wrong' thing I have to see through to make it right for Akko."

The bird nipped at something underneath his wing briefly then fixed his master with an icy, distant stare. What about her happiness? Her right? He understood it was a dilemma, and he could see exactly what it was she was going to do. There was no answer to give if it was right or wrong. He just didn't want to see her suffer.

Chariot didn't know how to respond to that, instead she just gave a non-committal hum and decided it was time for her to get out of bed. Not just because there was no sleep to be had, but any she might find would be scratched with nightmares anyway. And she had something very important to do.

She had to find Akko. There was no telling how discreet that hyper-energetic girl was going to be after what they'd just done. That, and Chariot had to snuff out that wild, irresponsible romance before it surged to such a dizzying height she feared would wrest control of her judgement if she allowed it.

And she would allow it. Eventually she knew she would. That was why Chariot had to end it as soon as possible.

For Akko. Right?

After cleaning herself up and changing out of her sleep-ruffled teacher's garb, Chariot switched into her bland but comfortable track suit. Normally she thought it better not to wear that outside her room, etiquette and all that. But really, there were more important things to worry about.

"Time to go then." She said to herself, already moving through the open door, shaking off the lingering wobbliness in her her knees with surprising relief. Alcor squawked out one last thing before she clicked the lock into place, instantly seizing the woman on her feet for a second before she kept moving and bounded down the steps outside her quarters.

Her familiars' parting thought buzzed in her ears as she broke into a faster tempered jog with the halls of the academy now passing at her sides; the towering windows appearing as panels of grey with the gloomy skies they framed.

Those who think they want to be alone, need someone most of all. That was what he'd said. And just like that a doubt formed, forging her fools errand to the realm of total impossibility. One crippling fear, destroying the other.

She was going to find Akko, scared senseless for what she was going to do. There was no stopping herself. Even though every hurried step she took changed what is was she wanted to say to Akko until Chariot had no idea entirely.

The woman was so distracted by her predicament she carelessly rounded a corner with blurring speed and found herself careening towards a very scared Lotte yelping in shrill surprise and her friend Sucy beside her not reacting at all.

Without any room to effectively skid to a halt, Chariot instead used the momentum to leap high into the air in a crescent arc, barely clearing over a still screaming Lotte as the woman felt the fine hairs on their heads graze when she'd flown by before landing deftly behind the two girls.

Whirling about, Chariot yelled a hasty apology.

"Oh! Forgive me girls! H-How reckless of me! I just needed to, well it's a long story. Please excuse my rudeness!"

She made to turn and leave them there, something a little impolite to do, but hadn't shifted her feet when Lotte spoke up, still appearing a little afraid as she held up one of her books to cover her mouth.

"P-Professor! You scared me… Are you alright?"

That Lotte. Chariot understood why Akko was such close friends with her. Even after being the clear victim in a near-disastrous collision, the mousy girl was the one to ask of _her_ well-being.

"I thought no running in the halls applied to teachers as well. But what do I know?" Sucy, the picture of indifference, said dryly. "Even Diana couldn't resist a minute ago."

That comment cleared the lapse in Chariot's goal. She'd seen Diana run past, so that meant…

"Sucy! Please tell me! Did you see Akko chasing her? Do you know which way they were heading?!"

The resident Mushroom Witch displayed a fair bit of restrained emotion in being addressed so forwardly and bluntly. The lone eye peeking out from behind the odd hue of her curved bangs widened slightly in a sudden concern. And also…suspicion.

"...I saw Diana go back the way we came then to the left, up the steps I think." Sucy replied cautiously and after sharing an uncharacteristically nervous look with an equally flustered Lotte, she turned back to Chariot.

"Professor, what's this about? We let Diana past us because it's her business, but when Akko went by we couldn't even make her look at us. What happened?"

Sucy seemed to have a knack for asking the most piercing of questions. Well, when someone truly doesn't care what others think of their eccentricities, they tend to always speak their mind. But despite the perfectly reasonable question, there was no time to indulge either of them. The direction that Sucy mentioned their friend's had run off to, Chariot knew where those two girls would end up as a result.

"Nothing dangerous occurred, I assure you." A stammered half-lie. "There's just a little…drama, I'd call it. Yes. Just a bit of student drama between them."

Before Chariot could form another hurried sentence to part ways, she was distracted by Lotte's unexpected high-pitched squeal of shock. The little Witch's small face was suddenly beaming in a red hot blush.

"Forbidden Love!"

Chariot stopped breathing. A mental image of her brain hopping onto a broom and shooting off into the dazzling night sky played in her mind. How in the world had Lotte figured it out? Unable to function as a human momentarily, Chariot stood there as the two Witches bantered between each other.

"What? Stop with the shouting. I'm getting used to this weekend quiet."

"Don't you see it, Sucy? It finally happened! Diana, or maybe Akko, one of them finally said it!"

"No way. There's no Witches on the planet more stubborn than those two. I'd sooner eat all of Akko's pickled plums at once than believe that. Blegh."

"But you saw! I think Diana was crying when she ran past. And Akko didn't even see us when she went after her. But…but wait that means…"

Chariot had regained some motor functions and managed to look to the two girls as they talked, quickly summing up they hadn't magically read her guilty mind. With the terror of being found out so quickly passed, Chariot found she was still standing numb on the spot when the context of what she was hearing from her students formed worryingly. Yanson had jumped to the conclusion that Akko and Diana were teetering on the edge of a romantic relationship, simply from seeing one chase the other in tears.

Something cold gripped her at that revelation, never having expected it. She asked herself why the prim and serious Diana would pursue a rolling ball of reckless energy like Akko. But that was obvious really. It was for the same reasons Chariot only then dared to possess and acknowledge herself. That girl was a glowing light that banished sadness personified.

"That idiot actually rejected her? Was she the only one who didn't pick up on the daily signals that we've been putting up with on the sidelines for months?"

"Looks that way…maybe we should go after her?"

Chariot had to speak up then, before the whole situation spiralled figuratively into a tree and exploded.

"Girls. Please don't burden yourselves just yet. I'm aware of what happened with…with those two…" What exactly, she wasn't going to elaborate, lest she shocked poor Lotte into the infirmary. "Please, let me go talk to them. I was a witness, so I think I can help them through it."

Lotte and Sucy looked to each other in concern, and even a little hesitation.

"Looks like Akko really did something stupid again." Sucy muttered sadly; the emotion sounding especially morose in her tone. "That girl just doesn't know what she wants."

"Akko's just Akko." Lotte followed with a waning smile, turning her attention from Sucy back to Chariot. "Professor, please do what you can. Akko can hurt people without meaning to sometimes, but we all know her heart is always in the right place. I know we can trust you to do what's best for her, like always. She's always looked up to you."

"Yeah, and tell that dope we found a way to stop the clock from exploding. She can't be goofing off with exams round' the corner. We got a lot of work to do."

Chariot gave a sharp nod, stoking the urge to hide the guilt prickling about her. She hadn't lied, but she hadn't told the truth either. All besides, she was losing time standing there. It was time for her to part ways with them.

"Okay then, girls. Please leave it me. I'll try and help them understand how to handle their feelings. And when it's done, I'll send Akko to your room. I think she's going to need her friends close for a little while."

Lotte offered a short bow of gratitude, smiling sweetly. The sight only churned Chariot's misgivings about keeping the truth to herself.

"Alright, thanks Professor Chariot. Akko will be glad you're looking out for her. I hope Diana won't be too sad about all this…maybe I can talk to Barbara and Hannah later and let them know what happened so they can help her through it too."

"Yeah, and I think I know what will help with this slimy romantic mess. C'mon Lotte, let's get that huge cake we saw sitting in the kitchen."

"Hey, that's a good idea. Something sweet will help make her happy. But isn't the kitchen closed right now?"

"When has that ever stopped us?"

Akko's friends drifted away as they talked, already going all in to their next benign little task. Sucy did however linger her eye on Chariot for an extra second before following after her friend. That girl was far more intelligent and perceptive than most could see. Somehow she figured the Mushroom Witch would be the first to find her out all on her own given the time.

In any case, after reassuring herself that Witches weren't able to read minds (without the use of a very cumbersome and expensive instrument anyway), Chariot finally regained her momentum to keep moving and seek out Akko and Diana before everything hopelessly spilled over. She only walked briskly at first, but when she was sure Sucy in particular was out of earshot, she broke out into another run.

 _Just what are you going to do, Chariot?_ She pondered, both confused and troubled. _Can you shatter her heart after knowing what it feels like? Even if it's the 'right' thing to do?_

Searching inside of herself for an easy answer as she bolted, Chariot couldn't find any such thing. But what she did find, what swelled and danced and sung wonderful hymns in her soul….was Love.

It was stronger then. And it burst out like golden fireworks the more she allowed her broken shell to feel it. The emotion overwhelmed her, making her weightless, allowing her to soar. The blurring world about her wasn't going past, it moved _for_ her.

 _I love and adore you, Atsuko Kagari. That's why…_

=][=

Akko had one thing up her sleeve that the resident Moonlit Witch didn't, and that was sheer foot speed and agility. Even with that head start and only the brief flashes of those distinct frost-blonde curls of hair whipping about corners to go on, Akko quickly closed the gap with Diana until she trailed behind in close earshot. She knew Diana could hear Akko running after her, and even her repeated shouts for her to stop and listen went ignored.

That reaction alone told Akko that Diana knew what had happened. How, Akko wasn't sure. But what other reason would Diana have to run away like that?

"Dianaaa! Hey! Don't run! Just let me talk to you!"

Ignored again. Diana suddenly shot ahead with a burst of speed, darting inside the passage that led to the crows nest of Luna Nova, bounding up the steps and disappearing from sight. That was bad! Diana was going to take off on one of the spare brooms! Akko could fly decently herself, but the other girl was leagues ahead in that regard. If she took to the skies, she'd never be able to catch her. No way was she going to let that happen though. Not like last time!

"Oraaaaaa!~" Akko went full pelt, kicking her feet against the forces of gravity so rapidly she cleared swathes of ground in an instant; quickly reaching the stairs herself and seemingly soared up the flight without touching even half the steps. "There!"

Akko burst out into the grey cold of that dreary clouded afternoon, ignoring the freeze as she quickly spotted Diana already mounted on a broom and coiled to spring off the mark from the very edge of the narrow platform. She didn't turn around at all to glance at her, not like the other time when the heiress at least spared a moment to reason with Akko.

"Diana! No you DON'T!" Akko roared, knowing her words alone weren't going to stop her. Just as Diana went airborne, launching forward a centimetre from the ground and off the platform completely, Akko screamed one more primal shout before recklessly throwing herself at her airborne target.

Lashing her hands out, Akko miraculously managed to snag the tufts of Diana's broom whilst teetering dangerously on her tiptoes off the edge, holding a bewildered and annoyed Diana in place, whom finally gave Akko her attention as she turned a pained glare over her shoulder.

"You're insufferable! You do know this?!" Diana shouted, a sting in her words that told Akko she was genuinely angry. "Why can't I ever just leave when I wish!"

"You can't go! Not until I explain!" Akko started with a fair bit of ragged exertion in her voice. Diana hadn't let up trying to pull away, so she had to dig her nails into the scruff of the broom to hold her in place. Akko figured Diana probably could've easily pulled away, but not without risking Akko plummeting to the ground for the seventh time that year. It wasn't her intention to trap her like that, but Akko was going to make use of that technicality anyway.

"There's nothing to explain, Akko! Nothing happened! Absolutely nothing happened in that room! Is that what you're going to say next?!" Diana attacked relentlessly, her placid features furrowed in an unseemly scowl that almost made Akko let go out of the broom in shock. The piercing question itself muddled what it was Akko wanted to get out, but she blurted out whatever she could anyway. Whatever it took to keep Diana from running away.

"No! I won't lie to you! Just please, one minute! That's-" Akko grunted, gritting her teeth as she leant as far back as she could. "-that's all I'm asking! Please!"

With a shunt, the force of Diana's broom pulling away halted, but Diana hovered in place, still glaring darkly at Akko from slightly above. Akko eased her body from the exertion but held the broom tight, unwilling to give Diana the total upper hand.

"Fine. Speak. Explain to me why you spit upon the traditions of this school."

"I haven't spit on anything!" Akko shot back, but tried to keep any anger in check and softened her voice when she continued. "I just…did something weird. I felt alone, and she was too…"

"I heard it. Shamefully, I eavesdropped. I still don't believe my ears that was real. _Her,_ Akko? What is happening with you? A student and professor should not be doing such unseemly things! It's ABSURD!"

Diana had shouted the tail end of that sentence, her eyes now wide and piercing, making Akko feel like she was physically shrinking under her gaze. Still, Akko held her ground, and Diana's broom too.

"You don't understand! I always loved Chariot! She was so hurt and-and I felt this explosion inside of my chest. Like fire that doesn't burn. I just wanted to be with her. Not just as…Akko…her fan, but also her-"

"Stop it."

Akko went silent, noting how sharply Diana's expression had changed. There was a miserable glimmer in her striking blue eyes, instantly reminding her of Chariot's own hurt. Why? Why did Diana look so…

"You've truly always held those feelings for her? That Shiny Chariot?"

Akko felt apprehensive all of a sudden. At first, she thought Diana was just going to be angry and confused as to why Akko had done what she'd done. But there was crawling anxiety in the air around Diana Cavendish as she continued to speak that Akko was struggling to understand.

"I have. I do, Diana. I know it's not 'accepted' or whatever. But I don't care about a line of words in some book that say I can't fall in love with someone just because they're a little older."

Diana shook her head rapidly, growling a choking syllable under her breath. When she fixed her look on Akko again, Diana's eyes were awash in sad tears.

"That's not it, Akko…I was prepared to ignore the rules, ignore everything that would get in the way of your happiness…"

What was she saying? Akko found she had let go of Diana's broom at some point, but somehow she felt Diana hadn't the strength to fly away. The girl wanted to tell her something important, but what?

Before speaking again, Diana breathed in a shaking breath, not bothering to dash away the descending tears.

"I will confide something with you. I had a plan in mind that I spent no less than three months procrastinating over. No matter what I did to convince myself that it could be my ruin, I decided upon discarding that fear to seek out what I desired. With that I was to eventually invite you to my estate, there would've been a feast, and dancing. I was ready to sing for you, Akko."

The strange expression Diana fixed her with rooted Akko to the spot nervously. There was a joy and relief in her sad eyes and upturned beautiful smile, a cold subtle detachment mixing with emotions that rendered Akko speechless as her ears grew hot despite that chilling cold.

"That was when I decided I would do it. When I would finally indulge all the truth in my heart to say how much I'd fallen in love you."

Akko took a step backwards without meaning to, moving her mouth open and closed to feebly try and respond to what she'd heard. At that moment, a light rain started to fall, growing quickly in strength until there was a decent downpour pattering away all around them.

Diana whisked out her wand and tapped the air in between her and Akko, leaving a tiny orange orb of light floating there. The rain then caught against an invisible sphere that fanned out from the spell, shielding the two of them as the torrents of water flowed outwards on all sides as if running on glass. The soft light was also gently warm, and a shuddering Akko instinctively moved closer to it, hugging her arms to herself not just from the cold, but shock also.

Diana Cavendish. The Moonlit Witch. Heiress to one of the last remaining Witch families of old. Beautiful, perfect Diana Cavendish, loved her. Akko saw it and understood quickly why Diana wanted to run away to be on her own. She understood but…but she couldn't move. Akko couldn't even speak.

"Akko, say something to me. Anything, please…"

A hammering of rushed footfalls sounded from the passage they'd both entered from, and whirling about on the spot, Akko saw Chariot emerge looking panicked and worried. Diana's warming spell didn't reach out to the opening, leaving the woman to stand there as the ever-increasing rain drenched her mane of hair into slicks that stuck to her dismayed face.

"Diana..!" Chariot shouted, "Don't you _leave her_!"

Akko yelped as a sudden gust of wind whistled past from behind her. Diana had suddenly swooped back in onto the platform, skidding to a halt right in front of an alarmed Chariot who balked further when Diana hurled her broom off to the side and wrapped her free hands roughly into the fabric of the taller woman's collar, yanking her shouting face close.

"You! How DARE you presume to command me! After what you did! You took her! You took her away from me! Tell me why, Chariot! Why, WHY!?"

"Diana! Stop that!" Akko found her voice again and ran to them before pulling at Diana's shoulders, prying her off and leaving Chariot stunned in place, her clothes ruffled. The warmth spell had followed Akko, basking all three of them in its dull light as it hovered above her head. "It's not her fault! I wanted it! I wanted to feel her love! She tried to convince me it was a mistake…and maybe it is, but I DON'T CARE!"

Akko's wild shout veered the attention of those two directly at her. They were drenched in water, both appearing lost and dazed; abandoned like kittens in the rain.

"I didn't know, Diana. Maybe…maybe that makes me an idiot for not noticing, but I swear its the truth. I couldn't see your love for me, just like I couldn't see my love for Chariot until I felt how much she needed someone, and how much I realised I always needed _her_ …"

Diana stared quietly, utterly befuddled and with her tears still wet and shining on those clear porcelain cheeks. Chariot beside her looked much the same, and though she was managing to keep from crying, her beloved Professor still appeared wounded.

"I'm not asking you to accept it. I can't force something like that…but right here and now, what I want most in this stupid, confusing world is for you to stay, Diana. Stay with me. Stay with your friends! Please!"

Diana grit her teeth, sad and shuddering from head to toe; loose droplets of rain lazily falling from the rim of her hat that now obscured her eyes. Akko struggled for a follow-up, unsure how to get what she was feeling across. The short pause in her words worried Akko. If she couldn't find something meaningful to tell her, then everything was going to fall apart. Diana would be irreversibly hurt, their friendship would burn to a crisp if it hadn't already.

"Diana, Akko, I need you two to listen very carefully to me."

Chariot spoke out firmly over the powerful rush of rain blurring the grey world around them. Her expression was oddly blank, like she was suppressing any emotions from showing. It was a calculated sadness, and even with everything that had happened that day, that one sentence was the one that scared Akko the most. Her Professor looked to her, forming a smile that said nothing.

"I want you to know, that I'm fully prepared to accept responsibility for what I did to you. By the Nine Witches of Old, Akko, I did feel a strong love in that short time we had as more than friends. That is my honest truth, and my honest mistake."

 _Mistake._ Palpable dread screamed hot in Akko's head painfully. Chariot wasn't…she hadn't come there to…

"I can't be the one you need to love. Not this way. We were both hurt and alone, and we found each other in desperate need. We forced that which never should've taken place. It was wonderful, Akko. But I'm…I-I'm going to end this here."

Diana uttered a sharp gasp, staring at Chariot incredulously, then over to Akko; her own tears temporarily forgotten. Akko herself felt numb again, but much more rigid than before. Like every piece of her didn't belong; a jumble of parts shaking and weak and ready to fall apart with every following breath.

"Such a relation is going to ruin us both. Even if my age wasn't a concern, I'm still your Professor at this academy, and on that alone no one here will ever approve of us. It has to be like this."

Akko stepped forward on instinct, feeling her body tremble oddly as she moved closer to Chariot, somewhat pitiably reaching her hands out slightly from her waist, like a child pining for a hug.

"C-Chariot, hey…c'mon. That isn't what you're supposed to say, right? I know we could get in trouble but…I said I didn't care! I don't! I'm not afraid!"

"But I am. For myself, and for you. Losing my place here will be the least of it. I have the mind to turn myself in, and suffer as I should. Whatever it takes to keep all this from ruining your dream."

Her dream? Yes, to spread love and joy to the world as Chariot herself had. But even with the tens of thousands of times she'd visualised that goal, it had recently warped into something else. She did want to show true happiness to everyone still…but she wanted Chariot by her side through it all, together as one force of hope. But just like that, the woman who had given life to that ambitious desire was telling her it was never going to happen.

"I know this hurts…" Chariot winced, biting down hard and speaking through a tiny slit of bared teeth in a clear struggle to maintain composure. "I can feel it. I understand what it's like to lose something you've convinced yourself is the most important thing in your entire life. But it really isn't, Akko. Your too young to be throwing yourself at someone like me. It's too soon for you to be risking expulsion from Luna Nova. Are you prepared to give up up all the friends you've made here? All for some failed-"

"ENOUGH!"

Akko jumped in surprise at Diana's shout that cut Chariot off. Her Professor again reeled backwards stunned when the heiress almost barrelled into her, but stopped just a foot short.

"I've never heard such prattling lies in my life!" She roared defiantly, all semblance of her previous misery vanishing in the fire of her proclamation. Though Chariot was fair bit taller, Diana seemed to have no trouble making the woman seem so small as the heiress glared up at her, punctuating her every following word with the biting sting of her refined tongue.

"You preach as if you can see the future! Perhaps you can predict it, but you'll never understand what it means to defy it! Especially speaking that kind of nonsense! All you ever seem to do is say one thing and do another! You don't even know what you really want, do you?!"

Chariot mouthed a response, but the delay of her shaking words made Akko see the hesitant turmoil she was going through. Was what Diana saying really ringing true to her?

"...Diana, this isn't about me. There isn't-"

"Yes there is. I can see it in both of you." Diana shot back quickly, then turned to Akko, whom felt increasingly astonished at what Diana was saying. Especially after Diana's own confession to her. "Akko, please, come over here."

"What are you-?" Chariot breathed out, rattled and nervous. Akko timidly stepped towards them and yelped when Diana snatched her hand as soon as she was close enough; pulling her over so she scrambled into place right in front of Chariot as Diana shifted to the side between them.

"Look at her, Chariot."

Akko didn't need to be told the same thing. She earnestly lost herself in the soft crimson orbs that regarded her anxiously, capturing the tiny hovering light of the warmth spell within them. Chariot's face was an amalgam of swirling emotions, torn it seemed between a pleading silence and a scattered hope for something lost that never should have been found. A flash of self-pity and hatred, a shade of uncertainty almost bursting through to brazen joy in a spark of a smile too brief.

"Now, with your lies spent. Tell Akko what you feel. Tell her what you really want."

Akko's breath halted, tasting a chill between her parted lips that she savoured closing with Chariot's rosy air, completely consumed in searching the woman's anxious quivering face for that same joy that had shone immortal not even an hour earlier. That had been the real Chariot. The happiness she'd shown Akko in indulging their selfish desires was more truth than any combination of words. But still Chariot seemed to wrestle with her doubt in that moment, marking her tone with a trembling uncertainty.

"...Akko, I'm afraid."

"I know, me too. But its ok to be scared…" Akko answered back, finding her voice. "It means you're always looking to the future. You're trying to do what's best for me, just like always. You care about me so much that you were ready to bury yourself to keep me safe."

Akko chuckled, her forced laugh pointed with a hiccup and brief sob that she chose to ignore. She noticed Diana watching her silent and stone-faced from her peripheral, and forced herself to put that on the wayside as well, as cruel as that might have seemed. Pulling her attention away from Chariot seemed impossible all the same.

"You promised me there'd be no more lies, didn't you? Well, Chariot. I'm here and I'm ready to hear the truth! I don't care how much it hurts! Or how terrifying it could be going forward! Once and for all I just need to know what you see!"

Akko threw her arms out wide, preening forward as much as she could, her exposed skin flush in itchy embarrassment with what she was doing. But she was being true to herself; doing away with her fear and uncertainty. No matter what happened. There was no denying she wanted Chariot with her more than she could fathom than any point in her life. All her previous desires had gelled together into an overwhelming whole, desperate to be shared unconditionally with the one she loved.

"You would truly have me…no matter what it meant?"

"You already know the answer to that…"

A stretched moment of silence in the rain followed, and not once did Akko look away, still poised to throw her arms around the woman, to forgive and forget if it meant to love.

Chariot took a step toward her, a wild but unquestionable smile winning over her storm of emotions. A last shred of grief discarded, and that expression burst into a joyous laugh that had the woman's eyes swimming in beautiful tears of reprieve.

"...Akko, this future you want, the one that's frightened me ever since you confessed your love…I'll accept it. I'm still terrified beyond belief, but I won't let that deny your happiness any more! I won't deny _mine!_ "

"Chariot!" Akko blurted out ecstatically, making to leap into her Professor's arms for an embrace, but both of them halted their narrow movements when Diana stepped in between them; angled so that her scrutinising stare was sent over both her shoulders to the Witches she'd interrupted in turn.

"My apologies." She stated coldly, looking to them both with a serious and determined edge about her. "This is where I interject."

"Diana…?" Akko said hesitantly, managing a swift glance past her to Chariot also looking confused.

"Truth be told, I haven't the slightest as to what it is I'm doing right now, but I suppose that's simply what occurs when it comes to allowing matters of the heart to drive you. One can't always let logic dictate your fate. I wouldn't be where I am if I truly believed that."

The heiress emitted a weighty huff as she flicked a loose fold of hair stuck with moisture on her temple loose, then strode purposefully past Chariot before halting in front of the passage back into the confines of Luna Nova with her back turned.

"Certain things must be adhered to. Rules and traditions exist for a purpose, and it's for that reason that I choose to stand in defiance of such a union."

Akko tensed with bated breath, unsure what Diana was getting at. That girl had gone beyond simply throwing her for a loop. She'd been ready to leave only a moment ago! Of course, she could hardly criticise Diana for something like that, considering her own spontaneous choices on that day alone…

"In saying that, I'm ready to enforce those rules to the best of my ability, as the next Witch in line of the esteemed Cavendish family, and as President of the Luna Nova Student Committee."

A brief lapse in the rain eased the sound of rushing of water that had accompanied the encounter, allowing Diana's next words to travel clear to the two stunned Witches in her rapture.

"However…perhaps this cold evening was simply a dream? Transgressions are so easily missed either way, and a lone Witch cannot be a witness to everything at once, can she?"

In that abrupt statement without a parting word, Diana slunk back into the darkening shadows of the passage, leaving Akko and Chariot alone to ponder her words for a brief silence until the older of the two spoke up first.

"Diana's… a very peculiar girl…"

Akko felt a rumble of a laugh wanting to escape hearing that curt statement, but the sad twinge pulling in her heart squashed that. In spite of being overjoyed that Chariot had accepted her, it still pained her deeply that Diana had to be crushed for that to happen. She never would have guessed that Diana had felt that way about her…but that fact did little to halt the eventual guilt that followed. The grimy feeling depleted her, adding to her current exhaustion caused by all the ridiculous happenings for that day; leaving Akko completely spent.

"I'm sleepy." She muttered lamely, kicking herself for saying something so stupid in a moment like that.

"Yes, you must be. It's been an…excitingday, hasn't it? Let's get you back to your room then. I'm sure Lotte and Sucy will be eager to know you're well."

"Y-Yeah…" Akko only half-agreed, urging a crawling blush tickling her neck to halt its advance at the mere idea that her Professor would invite her to stay in her room. It was too much, thinking something like that then, especially considering how disrespectful it would be to Diana's grace in turning a blind eye.

She allowed herself to be ushered by Chariot back into the passage they'd both burst through a scarce few minutes ago, soon finding themselves slowly descending the steps side-by-side at a glacial pace.

The darkness in that tight passage held most of the visibility at bay save for the illuminated arch of the exit several steps below. What slivers of light managed to glance off the stone walls gave the dark an oddly comforting blue shade, and when Akko made it to the halfway point, she stopped in place, prompting Chariot to halt beside her.

"What is it, Akko?" Chariot hushed in a low whisper. Akko turned to her, or at least, her shapely silhouette. The corridor was so dark where they stood they were effectively invisible from anyone looking in their direction from either side. But that was precisely why she'd stopped, and reaching out Akko glided her fingertips down Chariot's slight dew of rain coating the woman's arms, grasping her mentors-no, her _girlfriends'_ hands in her own. An anxious energy spurred her into that, needing an outlet or she wasn't going to be able to calm herself down at all.

"One more, just to be sure…"

She'd barely finished that sentence when she felt Chariot pulling in close, just as Akko gravitated her pining, hungry lips guided by the sharp, heavenly breathing of that gorgeous woman, joining their kiss in a brief oblivion cradled in the darkness.

"Mn…" Akko involuntarily whined with a tinny whimper into the open air when Chariot parted that delightful taste all too quickly. "Chariot…?"

"...Go get some sleep, Akko. We'll still be here in the morning. And-"

Akko couldn't see her face, but the alluring heat in the woman's palms, and the shy timbre in her tone spoke volumes.

"-Tomorrow, if…if you wish it. You may come see me after class. There's something I want to show you. O-Only you..."

She didn't need to ask what that meant. That tense, ludicrous, _frustrating_ feeling chewed the scant distance between them. A wordless sensation on their lips, a precious taste kissing sweet on their tongues.

"Good night, Akko."

Chariots hand's slipped from hers, but with a deliberate slowness; the woman softly grazing her fingertips away from Akko's palms in such a way that shot a million galaxies worth of pins and needles along her quivering back with that simple motion. Her Professor pulled away and descended the rest of the steps on her own, only pausing to look back into the corridor when she'd reached the bottom, parting ways with Akko for that night with a shy, nervous smile. Even in that distance, Chariot's unmistakable blush glowed so bright.

Akko took a moment to collect herself, leaning against the wall breathlessly as she clutched her chest with both hands; her heart conducting a symphony beneath her sweating, clammy fingers.

Sleep was going to be impossible.

=][=

Diana lay forward stiff on her stomach on her bed in the still quiet of her dorm, still dressed in her mildly drenched uniform after having carelessly thrown herself onto the clean sheets; her chin resting atop her crossed arms as she willed her piercing blue eyes to figuratively bore a hole into the wood panelling of the bed-frame. No rest would come to her that night, not with the boiling hurt ravaging her heart, not with the screaming rage and anger forcing her hands to clasp so tightly her knuckles turned bone-white.

Why had she lied like that? She supposed that is was panic that forced her, that and the mere sight of Chariot's face had shamefully pushed her to the brink of self-control.

Easy lies to avoid a confrontation. What if she hadn't walked away from there pretending that situation didn't sicken her the way it did? Diana would've have berated that woman further, she would've gladly discarded all notion of etiquette if it meant lashing out against the nightmare that Chariot Du Nord had become to her. And in that process, Akko would've undoubtedly hated Diana for the shameless embarrassment.

In the smallest of mercies, it hadn't come to that. Akko was…she loved someone else. But Akko did still consider her a friend…didn't she?

Diana didn't feel like crying. A nasty sensation crawled along her skin. An alien feeling utterly unlike her. It was then that Diana decided she wasn't going to let things stay as they were.

She didn't sleep. She didn't accept it.

=][=

 _I am flustered. I've never written something like this before. Is it wrong? Maybe. It's fun though, heh. Also, apologies again if I upset any Diana fans out there with her characterisation here. It's still rough to my eyes. Maybe it's something I can work on. Peace out, Witches and Wizards._


	6. Ruiner

_Hello, hello! Another one fresh from the pot. This is still a learning experience for me, so there's bound to be a couple of small disasters about. Sorry about that. But I hope you like what I was able to scratch together. I gotta say, please be kind with any critique if you dislike my characterisation going forward. Drama is_ _ **tough.**_ _And this chapter might reflect that. I need to get stronger!_

 _DancingMad: Thanks eh! Good to know I got some kind of grasp as to how to write their thoughts, on how I think they'd handle something like this. Cheers for that bonus review too. Don't worry, I do that all the time._

 _MagitekKnight: Ahh, thanks for the understanding. RL stuff really does a number on creativity and drive, like a HUGE amount sometimes. I'm most definitely an 'in the mood' kind of writer, and sometimes even when I make some time for it I get nothing flowing. Thanks for another wonderful review, and hope I didn't make you wait too long for this one._

 _CharmedTheVampireSlayer: Thank you. I'm always trying to veer things into something surprising…although I'm not always successful in that regard lel._

 _Oscar: No worries, I won't let his die. I need to finish things once in a while, y'know! Better finished than perfect, I always say. Thanks for the reviews~_

 _ShadowPony12: Sorry to do that, I really like Diakko too. It's a very cute thing, but I needed to have it this way. It hurts me a bit too, I think. Forgive me! T_T_

 _MrDeadsmile: Triangles are so difficult to write. Not too sure about the traces of it here, but I hope to make it work all the same. Cheers for reading._

 _Your Intelligence: Hey! Your messages lately have made me so flippin' happy you have no idea. Thank you so much. And thank you for all the reviews too. I feel a bit of concern that I'm not quite soaring with this one as much as I'd hoped, but I hope you enjoy it any way you want. All the best and more to you! You're really quite wonderful, you know that~_

 _A little different this chapter, for better or worse is your call._

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

" _Ruiner"_

Whatever that place was, at a mere glance Croix knew it was something utterly alien to the world she was accustomed to. A strange blackness stretched out to infinity all around her as she stood tense on the steps of a golden stairway so impeccably pure she could see her own nervous reflection staring up at her with near-perfect clarity. The stairs stretched outward and upward, barely wide enough for two people and with nothing in the way of handrails to support her; leaving the chasm of swirling night beckoning below a constant, foreboding threat. At the apex of the stairs stood an impossible structure, a monumental gleaming cathedral of golden white; its massive scope and ridiculously detailed architecture gave it the breathless air of something pulled from the realm of imagination. Croix took in those spiralling pillars, the immaculately detailed statues and murals of armoured human-like giants along its yawning walls with a sense of unabashed awe. Even the atmosphere was thick with an untethered, godly voice; a magic so powerful the air was choking on it.

"Quite a sight isn't it, mortal? You should feel a great sense of pride that a creature as weak as yourself could have the fortune to stare upon its surface; this Dead Archive. Oooh, the _knowledge_ I will attain within its walls…my masters will kneel trembling and screaming before me in due time."

That voice belonged to the unfortunate cohort in Croix's quest, but a necessary one. She never would've found that place without him. Orpheus, he called himself; a towering man draped in azure blue robes punctuated with pauldrons and plates of thick armour, scattered with grim decorations of human skulls and runic symbols so impure a spike of pain would sting her mind from any attempt to read them. Every part of that man screamed unholy, evil, someone never to be trusted.

That didn't matter though. There was no trust between them to begin with. She'd needed him to access that place, just as much as he'd required her different scope of magic to find it. Simply put, Orpheus' power had been too chaotic to pinpoint the location with any precision. Some slight magic modifications on a runic instrument provided by him was all Croix had required to guide them there.

"So this is finally it. Where I'll find the spells I'm looking for." Croix said calmly as Orpheus strode fearlessly up the steps, his face unreadable behind his twisted mask of bone and shards. She hadn't meant that as a question, but he answered nonetheless. Whatever he truly was, the man's arrogance was beyond anyone Croix had ever met.

"Spells? _Spells?_ You barely grasp what it is awaits us within that infinite pantheon. It goes beyond simple abstract. Something as pittance as a dream or destiny means nothing when you possess the power to change the very meaning of those words."

"I don't care about any of that." She murmured, quickening her pace up the steps as Orpheus cleared four-at-a-time with his massive strides that boomed out in the silence, much like his oddly magnified voice. "I only need that tome. The one containing a reversal of the highest order of curses from my world. Once I have that, I don't care what you do."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware. My kind have no use for magic of that sort. Too weak, too ineffective. Even the phoenix ink the pages are scribed with isn't even worth using to polish my blade."

Croix let him speak, long ago having grown weary of his self-righteous and insufferable ego. In a way, that was working to her favour; Orpheus saw her as so weak a threat to his ambitions there was no desire to interfere in her affairs. Likewise with the Sorcerer himself, whatever machinations he was up to didn't interest her none. It was all so far flung and massive in scope she couldn't -nor was she willing- to grasp any of it. Chariot's happiness, and a shred of redemption for Croix, that was important. Not the realm of grim madness Orpheus hailed from.

Chariot…just thinking her name pulled a glut of emotions from her cold, calculated centre, easily distracting her. Immediately Croix knew she had made a mistake, as Orpheus halted his advance and turned to stare at her, a snide mocking tone to his words.

"Aaaah, what was that just now? A fear and doubt clouding you? Where does it come from I wonder?"

Croix grit her teeth, frustrated. "Tch, must you pry into my business? What interest is it to a Chaos Sorcerer, after all?"

Orpheus cackled out a wild laugh that rattled and warped in the dark.

"Everything is my business. And all besides, there's nothing you can do to stop me reading your mind, is there? You can try and resist it, but as easily as I stand on my feet, I can rip your thoughts into ten thousand screaming pieces."

Croix kept her composure, still annoyed, but resigned to the matter. That man's magic wasn't just on a different level, it was beyond her entire realm. His sorcery was the kind that allowed him to erase planets on a whim.

"Then do it. Look for whatever you want in my soul. Though you should prepare to be disappointed, servant of Chaos."

"Ahhh…" The man's dragging curl of noise slithered through the air until Croix could hear it in her own head. It made her shudder as Orpheus' influence groped about, like he was clawing lightly at the back of her skull. What a disgusting sensation…

"A Chariot? No, THE Chariot. I see, I _see._ Oh, now that is quite delicious. Such emotion. Her final, lingering look has changed you, hasn't it?You did well to hide your thoughts from me for so long. For such a pitiful being, your cold resolve for privacy is refreshing."

"Seen enough?" Croix snapped back, fighting to keep a stoic pose as Orpheus loomed over her, easily twice as tall even without the aid of the ascending steps. "Why do the emotions of a 'pitiful being' such as myself interest you?"

"Because…" He lowered down a step, his taloned foot crashing loud and booming. "Moments of Ruin are very interesting."

Croix didn't want to ask. What little she knew of him, one thing she was sure of was that Orpheus could see into the future of others, just as easily as he could see into their clouded past. But Croix couldn't help but wonder what was meant by a 'moment of ruin'. Probably using that very thought, the wretched man pressed his eagerness to pry his opinion.

"I've seen it now, you will break her curse, just as you broke her poor _beautiful_ heart…" Croix's hand almost twitched to her wand; her desire to continue existing putting a stop to that. "…and when you return, you will want more than simple catharsis for your sins, will you not?"

"Shut up." She breathed out, agitated. "Freeing her will be the end of it. Whatever happens after is fine with-"

"It is not." Orpheus stated flatly, turning back around to continue up the golden stairs. "Even now you struggle with it. The memories of your past with her, they **choke** you. Experiences and emotions you willingly ignored. And now that you see them for what they were, it has changed you."

The sorcerer was a good distance away, just reaching what looked like the yawning doorway to this Dead Archive, but his thundering voice dissipated none in that chasm.

"You will FREE her! And it will RUIN you _both_!"

His cryptic nonsense broke out into another dramatic laugh, leaving Croix standing there shaking and furious. She had to ignore his spiel. Even if she believed it to be true. There was no going back, not after what she'd promised, and with a final check of her scattered will, Croix bounded up the steps after that infuriating bastard.

=][=

The incredible marvels of that place fascinated Croix. She trailed behind Orpheus as the two of them passed chamber after chamber stacked to its infinite ceiling with troves of knowledge; spiralling bookcases swollen with arcane texts, glass containers free of times' decay holding various weapons of war far too large and powerful for her to ever consider using, and even horrifying monsters frozen in those containers floating in suspended animation; their forms so twisted Croix couldn't compare them with anything she'd ever seen.

Much like the outside, everything there was coated in white marble and gold, but the murals and monuments were even more pervasive; the gleaming skulls and scriptures from some method of worship never to be understood following her every step; judging her trespass in stifling silence.

The grim decor and wondrous artefacts did seem to be working in Croix's favour, in that Orpheus seemed sufficiently distracted by them, allowing the Witch an easier time in masking the voice of her thoughts.

In truth, the arrogant sorcerer's words before still irked her. His line about Croix having changed gave her great pause, as did his revelation that her goal would somehow harm her dear friend, as well as herself. She wasn't naive enough to simply wave it off like nothing.

Croix really hadn't stopped to consider it, but there really was something about her that shifted; a deep, foggy emotion, wrung from her past. She remembered that cool, windy evening under that tree, the sweet fragrance of strawberry red hair, Chariot's breath soft and steady as she lay her head on Croix's chest in a sleep so delicately gentle. And that unmistakable blush flaring bright on Chariot's warm cheeks when she'd awoken, finding their still faces a breath apart.

Her emotions swirled, almost losing control. Orpheus was far ahead, sauntering through another giant door larger than Luna Nova's main gate as he murmured and ranted to himself, lost in his own world of selfish opportunity. She had to be more careful, just thinking about that moment it…it really was changing her. Her and Chariot both known what could've happened in that moment scorched in time, and it had been Croix who had pulled away. She'd been the one to snuff that fire before it could form. She'd been young, unsure of so many things, and baffled by even more, the certain needs of a girl chief among them.

Croix wasn't into girls. But she wasn't into men, either. Her research and study, her goal of completing a task with the sole purpose of ruining the very girl she'd shared that cherished moment with, that's what had consumed her.

But then came her downfall…and that confession. And for the first time in her life she asked herself that fundamental question.

 _What do I really want?_

To save Chariot. To break the curse borne entirely of Croix's selfish revenge. It was the truth.

 _What do I need…?_

But there was more to it, wasn't there? A freight train of thoughts rushed her mind; a rapid slide-show of Chariot's every smile, every laugh, every beautiful moment they'd shared when they'd been at their closest. The sequence froze unto the last image of Chariot's shattered, pleading look. A joy broken by rejection. Croix's rejection.

The woman was still too unsure what to make of her feelings. Had Chariot never confessed to loving her beyond friendship, Croix's own maelstrom wouldn't have ever surfaced, remaining buried in the past like most of her troubled emotions.

Croix was still beyond set on breaking her curse. But after that…what was she going to do?

"Witch."

Croix quickly collected herself and almost walked straight into Orpheus who had stopped in place, facing her as he stood next to a small passageway engulfed in dark. A pang of worry hit Croix, that the cruel sorcerer had been reading her thoughts the entire time, that he was going to confuse and frustrate her further by toying with her insecurities.

"What is it?" She asked, hardly bothering to mask her annoyance. "You wish to toy with my private affairs more? Keep your twisted readings of my future to yourself, sorcerer."

Orpheus cackled madly at that, throwing his head back dramatically like a cartoon villain. What pompousness…!

"Oh, still torn with all that are you? HAHAHA! You Earthen Witches are so easily swayed by emotion and love! We stand in a place of infinite knowledge, and all you care about is a girl with a shattered heart! You were the one who crushed it, and now you want it for yourself? What baffling hypocrisy!"

Every measure of her being screamed at her to snap back, but her patience borne of age and experience held her tongue. That ridiculous man did not understand her at all. What would a being not even from her world know?!

"...but enough with your mind-numbing conflict. We've arrived at the point where we part ways forever more. The tome you seek is in this room. And behind you-"

Croix felt a surge of sorcery form a few paces at her back; its crackling energy sizzling the air about her neck and hands.

"-a portal for you. To take you back to your pathetic world after you find what you came for."

"How generous of you." Croix said in monotone. "And I should believe you about that? Or that the tome I seek is in that dark passage? Not some abomination of death I have no chance in facing?"

Orpheus hissed a disgusting snort, a sound closer to a rabid animal than any man. He whirled on the spot and strode away towards another massive door more suited to his hulking frame.

"I do not care what you believe. But I see all futures. You **will** find your weak book. You **will** step into that portal. If you do not, I will close that escape forever, consume what paltry magic you have within, then leave you as ash. Do not speak to me again, Witch. Or I'll take your fate into my own hands."

She watched him go with no small measure of relief, staying silent as his imposing figure slunk and disappeared into the dim shadows of the passage far ahead.

Without bother to glance at the supposed portal behind her, Croix moved quickly into the passage where her goal supposedly lay. The dull golden light of the previous corridor vanishing the moment she stepped inside, but her courage and eagerness to leave that place only sped her quickening feet along into the pitch blackness.

Croix steadied her nerve and proceeded forward, casting a rudimentary light spell with a pointed flick across the screen of her custom tablet; the tools' respective glow too weak to illuminate much beyond her hands holding it. With that the walls and floor seemed to phase into existence as her spell's soft aqua-green light travelled across them, revealing the path to be straight and narrow with a visible exit already in view not far ahead.

Wasting no time, the woman stepped through the passage which oddly fit her lithe frame quite well. She mused that the insufferable sorcerer wouldn't have been able fit through it, but of course that probably wouldn't have stopped him either way.

Croix paused a moment after moving through to cancel her brief light spell, quickly noting the room itself was tiny in comparison to the megalithic chambers she'd already passed through. It was lit by a lone black candle wax-fused into the wooden top of a book holder flat against the opposite wall. A spring of excitement and hope welled up inside her, despite her better judgement. But just at that glance there was no mistaking the tome sitting open in the flickering candlelight was the one she'd been searching for. It lay open with its pages bare of any ink, and its size and leathery bindings told any indifferent onlooker that is was just an ordinary blank book with no worth or purpose.

But through her extensive studies, Croix knew it to be anything but. Still, with tempered expectations she approached and hovered over it, resting her hands at its sides as Croix leaned in, probing the musty pages with her keen gaze.

"You must be it. You _have_ to be it. So show me, little book. And don't let me or Chariot down."

Quickly, as if if by insistence to her words, the formerly empty page on the left brimmed with glowing azure shapes and symbols, mesmerising Croix as their fluid motions settled like water and-to her increasing delight-found the words forming to be in her native tongue.

 _Weak Curses, Realm of Earth. Erasing Wagandeas' effects…._

Croix felt her eyes widen at that. That was it! With a sharp breath she clutched the edges of the book and leaned in closer to read the words clearly. Just like she thought, it was responding to her inner desires! That nameless book was the genuine article. She could hardly believe it was real, let alone that Croix had been the one to find it. The spell itself was almost insultingly simple, requiring naught but a pinch of sugar and drawing of the runic symbol splashed in the middle of the page. According to the details, it would only work in close proximity to the afflicted, so she had to head back to her realm first.

It wasn't just a book of hidden spells…it _created_ them. No matter how impossible or fantastical. And it served her needs perfectly. Chariot was going to be overjoyed, and Croix allowed herself that same wondrous emotion at the picture of her dear friends' gleaming smile at the news that she'd be able to soar through the skies once more. A slight well of tears made it almost half way to run unchecked, but she relented. Croix wasn't one to cry easily, and it was still too early to celebrate anyway. Her emotions…her desires…all that could wait until it was done.

"Time to go then." Croix said with a relieved sigh, but just as she shifted her hands to close the book and take it with her, the page opposite the Wagandea cure starting scratching out an entirely new spell; this time in a soft pinkish hue shining like glitter. She couldn't help but scoff incredulously at the first words she made out at the top of the page.

 _Discover your True Love._

"What? Ridiculous." She muttered with another touchy scoff and shut the book, or at least tried to. Croix had stayed her hand as the nature of the spell had already burned itself into her thoughts in a fire of blazing curiosity impossible to ignore. With a shaken mettle, Croix allowed the book to fall open again and read that new spell, a soft quiver in her hands as she did so. Perhaps from fear. Perhaps she didn't want to know the answer. It was too late though, her naturally inquisitive nature was already absorbing the details on the page.

 _Kiss this page. All will be revealed._

Croix cocked her head at the simple instructions, baffled and nervous. That easy? She didn't need to hunt down a dragon flower or a lock of Chariots hair to…

Chariot. Without even hesitating, she'd thought of her. Was she really…? All it would take to find out was…

She'd already lifted the book close to her face, re-reading the instructions over and over. A majority of the page was still swirling in a slow vortex of pink, glimmering light, probably ready to take the form of her answer. Croix allowed one more moment of doubt, then discarded it just as quickly before squinting her eyes shut and planting her parched lips onto the paper, somehow tasting strawberries at the brief contact.

Pulling away and opening her eyes once more, Croix nearly toppled back and dropped the priceless book when Chariot's own face suddenly greeted her from the page, a small smile tempered with sadness and doubt. Warm, swimming eyes holding too much pain, glowing with kindness despite it.

It was really her. The likeness wasn't just close, it was perfect. By the Nine, even her fragrance tickled the air. And when her image dissipated from the page; melting back to the flowing vortex, Croix felt as if Chariot had really been there, and had left Croix alone.

Just as…just as Croix had left her. Alone. Left her…

 _SNAP!_

Shutting the book quickly as a new-found energy crackled in her chest, Croix slung the book under her arm and strode purposefully back from where she'd come. It was time to head home.

Croix wasn't sure what to do with her feelings. What it meant to know your true love. Perhaps she was undeserving of such a thing, having foolishly rejected her out of ignorance.

But after everything…she just wanted to see her again. No matter what it meant. Prophecies and spells be damned.

Croix was going to make Chariot happy. No one she knew deserved it more than that kind, selfless woman; her one and only true friend. It was time to make everything right.

=][=

It was the dawn of a new day, and for a change since that bitter cold had started, the sun had actually decided to show itself; beaming its lancing warmth through the clouds amongst the rare patches of blue still visible. Akko appreciated it heartily, glad to have something to distract her from the unbound nervousness and excitement she'd been feeling since that morning as she and her friends readied themselves for another day of lessons.

Though she was happy, light-headed even, a couple of tense things still hovered in her mind. For one, she'd had a very…awkward night trying to sleep. After having laid awake for over an hour thinking -how could she put it?- 'spicy' things concerning her lovely Chariot, Akko had found herself staring raptly at the poster nearby, still visible in the bluish tint of that dark night.

That pose, her welcoming smile…that… _that skirt!_ That blouse! Every little thing about it excited her. It'd reached a point where her breaths had come sharp and quick, almost like she'd been hyperventilating. An itchy warmth had glowed on her skin, and her hands…Akko hadn't been able to stop gently stroking the soft angles of her face, gliding her fingertips slowly across her dry lips in turn, sighing through them, and all the while restlessly shifting her legs to and fro. She felt like she was totally incomplete lying there alone, less than half of something. Akko couldn't stop thinking about wanting to become whole, wanting-no _needing_ her. She needed Chariot so so much…!

But the most awkward thing of all was what had happened when the excitement had become too much, Akko had shifted herself away from the coy, inviting eyes of the woman she loved, intending to seek out the real thing even at that ungodly time of night.

Sucy had been watching her, head turned ever so slightly from her own pillow, lone piercing eye visible in that dark. Her friend had said nothing, before slowly turning away in her sheets and putting her back to Akko, leaving the Japanese girl frozen in nervous terror for a moment before she'd settled back into bed, her nervous energy quelled by the shock and uncertainty of what she'd seen.

How long had Sucy done that for? It hadn't been a dream, that was for sure. And Sucy's continued silence that morning did little to comfort her. The two continued to get dressed whilst Lotte used the shower first, making the situation all the more stifling, until at last Sucy spoke up.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Akko?" She said quietly, casually stroking a few loose bangs from her eye by the reflection of a small mirror sitting on the desk.

"Urk!" Was Akko's rough reply, having not expected such a forward question and checking her knee on the frame of that same desk in a bid to slide on a clean pair of socks. "There's…ack! Hang on…"

The throbbing pain of the impact seemed a gift, allowing Akko time to sit herself down on her bed, still rubbing the offending limb with overzealous gusto that probably didn't help. Once the sting passed and Akko properly put on her socks and moved to do the same with her shoes, she glanced up from the task to see Sucy had turned away from the mirror and was staring at Akko, her expression mostly unreadable, but Akko wasn't dense enough to miss the fraction of concern in her eye.

After a pause, Akko figured there wouldn't be any kind of point in trying to lie. It was never something she'd been good, or even decent at. And Sucy was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. Still, she wasn't going to tell her _everything._ She'd admit to be caught acting funny, but the rest was frankly very personal. Her and Chariot were a secret and that was that. Was it so wrong to keep that part to herself?

"You, ah…you saw me, huh?"

"Yup. You looked like you were about to go somewhere."

"...Uhhh, yeah. Yeah, maybe…um…"

"It was pretty late."

"S-sure was."

"Were you going to see someone?"

"..."

Akko didn't know what to follow with, and her resolve faltering, pretended to see something outside their bedroom window to avoid Sucy's inquisitive gaze. She didn't want to lie to her, but…Akko couldn't just tell her _that!_ What was she going to do?

"Akko, listen up."

"Y-yes?!"

Being so tense that came out a lot louder than she'd intended, and snapped her attention back to Sucy so abruptly the normally stoic girl actually jumped a little.

"Relax, Ok? Just listen. I know what's going on." Sucy's blunt statement further rattled Akko still sitting rigid on her bed, who only then noticed she'd somehow put her shoes on wrong. She was already faltering, and Akko knew her body language made it abundantly clear to Sucy that she was hiding something, but she still sputtered a weak response.

"O-o-oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

An uncomfortable pause. The room got so quiet the two witches heard the faint melodic singing from Lotte in the shower from the adjacent room; a fact the Finnish girl would always sheepishly deny.

Akko tried to shift her attention to putting her shoes on right that time, but paused her suddenly difficult task when Sucy shuffled over to her and laid a comforting palm on Akko's shoulder; an oddly saccharine smile to go with it.

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna judge for wanting to hold secrets. Got plenty of my own after all. But-"

Sucy retracted her hand and let it flop lazily from her usual hunched posture, but her patient smile remained.

"-I want you to be careful, Akko. That's all. And I won't tell anyone about you and Chariot. "

Akko regarded her friend, still baffled at the sudden knowledge that her scandalous secret was so quickly found out. But she knew deep down that Sucy could be absolutely trusted to keep it to herself. Like she'd said, Sucy had her own quirks known to very few, and was probably the least judgemental person on the planet as far as Akko was concerned.

"...Do you think I'm weird, Sucy?" Akko blurted out after clumsily applying her shoes correctly and resuming to sit still, feeling a small comfort in meeting Sucy's calm expression. "That I feel about Chariot like this? That I ummm, well…that I like girls I guess? It doesn't make you uncomfortable?"

Sucy snorted a rare laugh at that, flashing her glinting teeth briefly.

"I always had a hunch about that. Lotte too. But we figured you'd end up with Diana. Even I couldn't have guessed your tastes were a bit more…exotic. It's that Shiny costume of hers, isn't it?"

A furious blush crawled across every atom of Akko's face, burning so hot she felt her hair would snap into flame. But in a moment of mercy, the door to the bathroom opened and Lotte entered the room proper. She exhaled a pleasant sigh, already wearing her uniform after having changed in private.

"Ahh, a warm shower is such a nice way to start the day. The sun's out, but it's still really cold, haha…" Lotte chirped happily, though she cocked her head a little at the sudden quiet she'd walked into. "Everything alright?"

"Akko was having trouble putting on her shoes. Again." Sucy muttered as she moved towards Lotte with her arms out in faux sarcastic frustration. "Looks like it's gotten really bad, Lotte. Pretty soon we'll have to teach her how to put on her hat every morning."

Akko felt herself smirking despite the barb at her expense. Sucy had expertly covered any suspicion, and Lotte seemed none the wiser as she giggled a bit in chastising their dear mushroom Witch.

"Aww, don't say that. You know Akko's been a little tired recently. She worked so hard yesterday, and I sometimes put my shoes on wrong too."

Sucy snickered as her reply and started to gather her things for the start of the day.

"Yeah, yeah. We should get going then. Unless Akko needs help with her hat after all."

Another quick giggle from Lotte as she too grabbed her stuff and moved to the dormitory door with Sucy in tow. "Sucy! Let's be a little nicer, Ok?"

"Uh huh."

Akko watched them casually banter with her grin growing to her usual energetic smile before scrambling for her own necessities and moving herself in step with them; the three of them huddling out the door with Lotte and Sucy still bickering a little.

"...just saying, first it was a clock, next time could be the world…"

"C'mon now, Sucy. We've all caused a bit of damage with magic. Or did you forget last winter and your 'heat potion'? The bunk bed got pretty melted…"

"Oh, we're digging up the melting past now? Heehee…that _was_ pretty funny though…"

Akko joined in the laughter between them that followed, forgetting her troubles. She was sure it was going to be a great day!

=][=

Diana Cavendish felt sick lying there in bed. The last time she'd suffered such a rotten feeling the girl could not recall. But she truly hated that sensation more than most. It wasn't just the utter draining sensation of a coming flu and the shortness of clean breath, but it also reminded her of the grimier instances of her wounded past. Namely, sickness reminded her of mother. Of lying helpless in a bed with nothing to do but mull death. A horrid thing. She hated it. Absolutely hated it.

"Dianaa~ Hey, are you…" Barbara's sing-song voice greeted her that day as her friend peeked out from behind the tall bookcase a distance from the foot of Diana's bed. A sudden concern showing across her features at the miserable sight Diana was sure she appeared as.

"…Oh, you don't look too good…" Barbara added, light-blue eyes quickly furrowing as she approached cautiously; the slight movement bobbing the perfectly cut tresses of raven-black hair framing her increasingly nervous expression.

Hannah shuffled in from behind her confidant like a reflection, peering over at Diana with similar worry, her hands entwined in the midst of setting her characteristic high ponytail. A small hair band was nibbled at the edge of her lips, but she voiced her own without issue.

"Huh? Oh, sorry for intruding…we thought you were just getting ready…like really quietly. You Ok, Diana? Your face is pale…"

Diana tried to mouth her reply. _I'm fine girls. Just had a restless night._ Not even a word of that formed as instead something else churned out of her, forcing Diana to abruptly shift out of her sheets to the edge of her bed.

Then with an ungraceful wretch, she vomited heavily, heaving the disgusting burning bitterness out of her throat with a series of painful coughs in between.

"DIANA! Oh no!"

"What the…!"

There hadn't been a bucket in place, leaving the splattered mess on the floor at her bedside, and Diana still leaning out drawing whatever short breaths she could through the guttural pain. Despite the disgusting unbecoming sight, Hannah and Barbara flocked quickly to her side in desperate aid, yelping over each other.

"D-Diana! Hey, just breathe ok? I'll clean this up…!" Barbara quickly offered, flicking out her wand over the sick mess on the floor, thankfully turning it into sawdust and deftly ridding the room from the brief unpleasant smell. She then sat beside Diana on the bed and gently dabbed at her mouth with Barbara's own handkerchief, fixing her with a doting look of frazzled concern. "Aww, no…some of it's in your hair…lemme help you with that."

Diana let her work, resigning herself to just sit there weakly, no strength in her to even appease their worry. But she felt an immense appreciation at their sudden care all the same.

"H-hey, I'll go get the nurse! You watch her close, Barb!" Hannah spoke up.

"Will do. I got this, Hannah. Be quick, alright?"

"Course!"

She darted back behind the bookcase and not even half a second later Diana heard the door to their room being flung open, followed by Hannah's rapid shoe-beats clacking out in the distance of the outer corridor.

"I guess even you get sick sometimes, huh? You must've been caught in that rain last night, your clothes and sheets are still wet!"

Barbara placed the back of her palm to Diana's throbbing forehead, the brief contact chillingly cold causing a slight shiver to tremble across her back.

"That's a fever all right. But you should be ok, let me just-"

Another swish of her wand, and an odd ripple flowed about Diana and her bed; looking much like waves of heat haze one would see on a summer day. It felt wonderful and comforting, especially when Diana relished that her clothes and bedsheets had dried instantly, coaxing her to relax a little with the relief that her nausea had passed for that moment. She was absently impressed how effective Barbara's magic was when it came to the care of others. Though the girl was loathe to admit it herself.

"There, doesn't that feel better? What were you doing going to bed drenched like that? Guess you must've been really tired or something, huh?"

Diana met Barbara's eyes as the girl sat close, seemingly uncaring of any possible spread of that sickness. After turning away a little to cough roughly into her sleeve, Diana found her voice, albeit with slight scratch to her words.

"Barbara, thank you very much."

Her friend's sweet smile in response comforted Diana in a way that no amount of magic could replicate.

"Aww, hey. Don't worry about it. Remember when you took care of Hannah and me a few months ago? We both caught each others nasty cold, and you doted over us all day. You even got yourself excused from class to take care of us! No matter how many times we told you we'd be fine, you never left…"

Diana could scarcely remember that. But no, there it was clear as day. She hadn't thought it to be any kind of achievement, but Barbara clearly thought otherwise.

"I was…concerned."

"Tell me about it. Well, now I know how you felt then, huh? And don't even think of sending me away. Nu uh, nope, no way. Hannah and I can catch up on our studies, just like you did. So don't worry about a thing, you hear?"

Diana felt herself crack a weak smile, a spark of happiness in her core that such loyal friends were a part of her life. But then, like a cold snake squirming through her very soul, that brief joy was choked into nothing, replaced by numbness.

She must have emoted that too strongly, prompting Barbara to shift closer.

"D-Diana, hey. You look like you need to cry…"

Diana sniffed stubbornly, fighting against that useless emotion. She didn't want to think about _that._ About what she'd seen. About what she'd allowed to happen…

"You're…sad, right? Is it…Akko?"

Her grip on the covers tightened suddenly, scrunching the clean sheets up in her balled fists. She hadn't meant at all to do that…

"Listen, Hannah and I promised to keep it to ourselves, to let you figure out what you wanted out of her. But-but something happened last night, right? You told us you wanted to see Akko, and next thing we find you like this…"

Diana couldn't speak, all her effort going instead to maintain whatever shred of composure she could, but Barbara's pressing, concerned gaze was making it increasingly, impossibly difficult.

"Diana, you can tell me anything. I'm your friend. Please, what happened to you last night?"

Perhaps it was just the slight delirium from the flu churning about, but against the sweet, generous plight of a close friend, Diana saw no other recourse than to tell her. Her pride, the consequences, none of it mattered feeling as rotten as she did. It was wrong. And she simply didn't care any more.

"I witnessed them. Akko and Professor Chariot. I saw them. _Together…_ and they did not deny it when I confronted them. I do not know how far it's gotten but…I think they've at least…I-I don't want to say any more…"

At first Barbara scoffed a quick laugh, arcing her brow as if to say ' _are you joking'._ But the longer Diana stared back at her without showing the tiniest trace of humour, the more Barbara's face twisted and reeled back when the realisation kicked in that no, it was nothing but the cold truth.

"Whu…" She mouthed, curling her lips in a manner that looked to Diana like someone learning to speak for the first time. "Wha-whaa-"

A steady breath followed by a rattling cough from Barbara seemed to clear the girls mind enough to blurt out a single, clear word, now with an unmistakable and furious blush to her cheeks to along with her eyes still-widening in shocked disbelief.

" **What!"**

=][=

 _Sorry~ I don't like cliffhangers, but I had to end this chapter here, or else it was going to bloat for what happens next, which is…lots. A few bits I've written up for the next one will force a ratings change I think. This setup is heading to an event that'll be a miracle if I can pull it off at all. Wish me luck._

 _Thank you for reading! I hoped you enjoyed and didn't find anything too upsetting, and if you did, please let me know. Drama is a lot harder to write than I thought, so I've got a lot to learn from any possible criticism. Take care everyone. Make sure to love yourself and those you care about~_

 _-Queen_


	7. Starlight Girl

_AN: Hello. Been a while. I'll keep my thoughts short this time, just going through a weird, difficult time. Thanks for all the nice encouragement and critique everyone._

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Starlight Girl_

Another chilly morning of lessons and study went into its first swings when Akko and her friends huddled out into the corridor from their dorm and found themselves moving shoulder-to-shoulder with crowds of students back from their weekend away; their eager chatter ringing out at levels untold of before the recent surge of new applicants to Luna Nova. Many of them, Akko noticed happily, were very much like her. Girls with big dreams who through the sudden awe of a world of magic they'd never seen before, had their hearts changed forever. Though it was most definitely a positive thing, it did make Akko feel a little less 'unique' in a sense. She was no longer the only outsider learning magic against the odds, now there were _lots_ of them!

"Akko! It's this way!" Lotte's voice tugged from somewhere behind her, snapping Akko to the fact she was meandering in the wrong direction. Whirling about, the girl spotted her friends amongst the moving crowd; waiting outside the classroom door for Ancient History.

Sheepishly righting her course, Akko joined them and all three shuffled inside with the other students.

In that daze of routine, she found herself already struggling to pay attention to the glum lessons trickling her way in droning noise. What few words Akko bothered to jot down in her book for reference ended up as half-baked alien scribbles helpful to no one. Really, it wasn't usually that bad, Akko started to mull. Sure she'd never been one for keenly paying attention in class, but that was something the girl had thought herself improved on since the days of that crisis in space.

But in all honesty, Akko did know why it was harder than ever before to focus on learning. It was just something she was still in the midst of fruitlessly pushing aside temporarily. She'd hoped class would distract her, but in hindsight Akko should've known the complete opposite would happen.

And she wasn't simply distracted, Akko was a whole helping of nervous too. She was so tense her feet were driving into the floor as she sat rigid in her chair, bending the boards inwards they could snap loudly any minute. The teachers image and voice from the front of the class was reduced to a moving blur that occasionally stopped in place to go over a topic for the third time. What topic? Akko didn't even know that.

The distant sound of the bell signalling the end of that class seemed to crash right beside both of Akko's ears, startling her to snap her book shut that in turn spooked Lotte sitting beside Akko, who jumped in her seat at the sharp noise.

The casual activity of chattering classmates picking themselves up for the next class eased the Japanese Witch back into the waking world, at least a little bit.

"Everything Ok, Akko? You seem a bit restless."

 _Restless_ , Akko mused sarcastically, fighting down a nervous itch tickling behind her ears. A massive understatement. What was she going to tell Lotte in reply? For an odd reason the girl felt she couldn't unglue herself from her seat until she answered her curious friend.

Thankfully, Sucy chose to respond instead. "Let's give Akko some room. Remember what happened yesterday?" She said candidly while busying herself in scooping up her own belongings.

"Oh, that's right…" Lotte said sheepishly, following suit in gathering her things. The girl gave Akko an apologetic smile. "Never mind then. Sucy and I know you're working through a couple of things, so go ahead and take your time."

Akko wracked her thoughts at what her friend was specifically talking about. Again Sucy spoke up, covering Akko's blank air once more. She felt it wasn't an accident, like Sucy was going out of her way to screen for her.

"Yeah, you'll work through it. I would normally suggest taking a day off like Diana and her cronies did, but I honestly don't think your grades can take a hit like that." Was the Mushroom Witches' dry remark.

And what was that about Diana being absent? Akko was definitely feeling warped having missed a huge thing like that! A slight hit of shame went with it, especially as Akko gradually figured it probably had a lot to do with her. She recalled that confession in the rain, how it come as a total surprise, how Diana had been hurt, but seemed to shoulder the rejection with the kind of poise Akko distantly wished she had a whisper of herself. Diana Cavendish was special, in so many ways Akko had seen for herself and probably a tonne of ways she hadn't.

And that's why Akko figured that maybe…maybe Diana wasn't fine with how things had turned out; that her friend hadn't been up front about what she truly felt. She wasn't the kind of person to just skip class without a _very_ good reason. And that, along with a crackling thundercloud of nervous energy compressed in her chest, instantly worried her.

Then she remembered **that**. The next class for that day, the last one actually. Just like that all those overwhelming worries froze solid in the face of her reckless, exciting want.

Astronomy. Chariot's class.

 _Her_ Chariot.

Driven by an impulse that cut through the chaff of her mounting doubt with ease, Akko flared to life and recklessly shoved all her unused papers and quills back into her bag with a big arm sweep across the desk.

Next moment, still stuck in an odd blur of lost time, Akko stood awkwardly with her friends at either side a few paces from the door to Professor Chariot's lesson. The trip had seemed to take an instant and an eternity, and Akko had either walked way too fast or so slow she wouldn't have blamed a passer-by from assuming she was trapped in a time distortion. And that wasn't even mentioning how hard it had been just to walk in a straight line without constantly crossing her feet, tricking her mind that maybe she'd swapped her boots for no reason at some point.

"Akko stopped moving again." Sucy said as she sidled past her and Lotte and opened the door herself; the bustling chatter of the Witches already within reaching them when she did so. Before she went inside, Sucy turned about and stared at Akko pensively, suddenly appearing much more brooding than she was used to seeing her. Akko focused her scattered attention with a curious blink at the expression.

"You can't stop moving. Nothing ever gets better by doing that." Sucy said plainly, maybe even a little sadly as she then paused, her lips ajar from something else she seemed to want to follow with, but instead shrugged and ambled inside the classroom, leaving Akko and Lotte standing there after a last: "…you know?"

Lotte moved after her, herself turning briefly to Akko with a curious tilt of the head.

"Weird day, e-eh? C'mon Akko."

Somehow, that easygoing assurance and instinct to move in tandem with her friend allowed Akko to finally enter. Even before setting foot inside proper, Akko's ears pricked up as a delicate speaking voice muted everyone else to a low hum.

The words worked her feet towards them, spellbound as the classroom sprawled out before her.

Chariot's voice sang clearer when Akko reached the foot of her desk, clutching the hems of her skirt with clammy hands. The woman was distracted directing something happening at the back of the class to notice at first. "Ah yes, that one. If you could put it with the others that would be...yes thank you."

Those slender, gracefully soft red eyes locked with her when Chariot swivelled her head slightly to see Akko for the first time that day. Akko tried to blurt out a casual sounding reply, but instead huffed out a nervous gasp of air that ended in a slight retch. A last hearty cough with a raised fist to her mouth for unneeded emphasis, Akko barely found her voice to greet her at last.

"Hey… _wugh!_ " Was that incredible greeting, capped with teetering back on her heels too much and having to clumsily right herself; something that gifted her Professor with a tiny laugh, a brief palm covering her lips with the adorable sound.

"Good Evening, Akko."

Chariot smiled peacefully, which might not have looked so out of place those days, but Akko saw an added upturn of her lips, the lovely hush of pink at the point of her cheeks, swimming crimson starlight veiled by the glass of humble spectacles.

She was…glowing! That's what it looked like! Where was all that light coming from? She suddenly thought it'd be a good idea to try and ask, but a grip coiled around her forearm abruptly yanked her away from Chariot, followed by Sucy's easily recognisable voice hissing a sharp warning in her ear.

"Will you put the brakes on? You're lucky everyone's distracted right now! Maybe don't take my earlier advice to heart **within seconds!** "

Sure enough, with Akko firmly being guided to her seat, she noticed the initial buzz of class prep was still ringing throughout the spacey room, leaving her awkwardness hopefully unseen. Sucy was right to pull her away, she was feeling and acting too weird and would likely- nope - _definitely_ do something to embarrass herself, like always. She had to settle her mettle or…something like that! At the very least for her crumbling grades Akko had to try and start paying proper attention!

Now properly seated with the rest of her classmates having done the same, Akko glanced over once more to her friends seated on her left. Lotte on the far side was studiously poring over early notes stacked high on her desk, whilst Sucy sat hunched and bored next to her, but did offer a half-playful frown before focusing on her own work. Akko felt an urge to thank Sucy for guiding her clumsy butt about for that day, and also for keeping a certain secret to herself…

Thinking of that, Akko feebly tried to stop herself from looking down the rows of seated Witches towards the desk at the front. But she'd failed that before the task had even started, already Akko was awkwardly gawking at the image of her Professor standing evenly before the class; eyes half-lidded and reading from a roster sitting in the crutch of her elbow, her free hand tracing the words with slight glides of her index finger.

The glowing smile, the one that'd appeared when Chariot had seen her, was still shining. Akko could see it even seated close to the back of the room, like a beacon in the distance, showing her the way. For an instant, she remembered that last moment they'd shared in the dark, already feeling a curl in Akko's breath that parted her lips leading to a whispering sigh quiet enough for her ears only.

She was through denying it. That much Akko had been able to figure out. The girl knew what she wanted, who it was she wanted to give her heart and soul to for however long possible. Chariot Du Nord, Ursula Callistis whatever she wanted to be known by Akko loved her, loved _loved her so so much it-_

Chariot's gaze fluttered up from her roster for a moment, staring at Akko for a breathless furore of two whole seconds. A shy, knowing glint. Her smile impossibly growing more adorable, and still looked so fragile a harsh word might shatter it.

It seemed every moment Akko was finding something else to love about her. A dream that only grew more beautiful the longer she gazed, the longer she held it. That wonderful feeling of wanting to scoop up a moment in time in her arms, to somehow preserve that emotion for eternity clutched in her invincible grip. But when was she going to be able to start holding her again…?

Her empty hands were still clutched tight in her lap as she sat forward. They almost seemed to _hurt_. There was a real pain there, and it mixed with her fraught worry along with lucid waves of incredible love for a beautiful, kind mentor washing over everything.

Akko wanted to stop all the confusion before she went mildly nuts in some way. And the only manner she figured how, was the same way still gleaming in her thoughts since the last restless night. She needed Chariot. More than ever. She couldn't stop herself from imagining that same class, only starkly empty and its lights dimmed; Akko seated alone in soft shadows while Chariot below was illuminated in a shaft of heavenly light from on high. Her smile beckoned warmly, and Akko was driven towards it, easing out of her seat…

A sudden spark jolted Akko to refocus. Suddenly the room was filled with people again, and her behind, thankfully, still planted on her chair.

Chariot raised her voice over the din of the chatter to start the class, pinning Akko's daydreams aside before she possibly started to hallucinate. Of what, Akko didn't need to guess. But it…possibly involved a particular costume.

 _Uh oh. Picturing that was a bad idea._

"G-good afternoon. All of you. It's been quite a long day, yes? I think if we focus on a bit of work, the rest of it will go by briskly. Please open your copy of Estrella's Star Guide volume 7, first chapter please. Then we'll go from there. Oh, I said 'please' twice…eh heh…"

=][=

Chariot could feel the girls eyes on her, igniting a sudden warmness in her chest that spun and twirled in a marvellous, terrifying storm. There were 26 Witches in that room, each and every one of them focusing their attention on her, but it was only Akko's stare that shone brightly among them; soft earthen cherry-coloured eyes…the scant few seconds she dared to glance back, Chariot saw the unmistakeable glimmering expectation in them.

No, it was more so, something else. And thinking about that was why her announcement to the class had petered out so awkwardly. Her nervous laugh at the end dragged out to an even more clunky silence.

Akko was yearning for her…

"...pardon me, I may be a little more tired than I thought. Now please, open your books as instructed."

The strange air cleared somewhat when the class was properly under way. Though as she worked her pupils through the preliminaries of the next hefty (and quite boring, for her even) textbook and projects going forward, no amount of tensely going through those motions distracted her from Akko's pining gaze.

And she was quiet as well, unnervingly so. The whole class was wrapped in eerie silence as a result. It was all scratching of quills, the slight rattle of windows from evening winds, the minute ruffle of clothes for that brief stretch.

Chariot could hear everything, see everything. Seated at her desk, Chariot was hopelessly reading her roster and lesson plan over and over and over. She struggled to find something stimulating to distract herself, but nothing.

Nothing but her, that was…

The swell in her breath was too much, and despite her judgement, dared another look up at the girl sitting so close and so very very far. Chariot masked the movement by pretending to need a different pen, leaning forward a little as she plucked it from her desk.

The rim of her hat rose a little, allowing a quick peek at the girl. She was a little surprised to see Akko energetically scribbling away at her work, nose wrinkled and with a single brow arced in concentration.

Almost immediately Akko noticed her however; her posture rising taut with a soundless gasp that froze her quill on the page. But then a pause, an oddly slow easing of her rigid shoulders, followed by an owlish blink of her eyes and an elated smile.

Chariot felt her own joy mirror Akko's, freeing her briefly from the Earth's unrelenting pull, lifting the woman into a figurative glide on her toes. She still couldn't look away. Couldn't stop embracing the impossible happiness. Someone could've been looking, but it didn't matter. Not any longer. Not when just taking in that girl's innocent adoration was enough to wrestle her pain away so powerfully. Her doubts and shame, her self-hatred. Akko blasted it all away with a cheeky smile, dust against a tornado.

Utterly undeserving is what Chariot was. The entire world deserved Atsuko Kagari, not just her. Especially not her.

But the way Akko stared, her drive to get whatever she desired, no matter the challenge. Her ability to simply march to the beat of her own drum.

Chariot was prepared to do the same. For every single, disastrous second.

The bell sounded then, snapping the glowing cord Chariot had threaded towards the girl in those beautifully silent moments. Somehow she was able to scramble out a few words as the assembled Witches again gathered their things.

"Oh! Well, I suppose that's all for today then. Uhhh, we'll-we'll pick up on the same page next lesson. H-have a nice evening everyone."

The girls mostly chimed out a half-hearted parting, but hardly looked up from their stationary doing so. Chariot felt a small relief in seeing that the Witches were far too eager to leave class than notice what had taken place between Akko and herself.

The girl was packing up too, but far slower than her friends. Before Akko noticed her staring again, a gaggle of Witches passed Chariot by, blocking the view; her students still far too educationally fatigued to pay any extra mind.

They filed out as groups, talking a million words a minute with no small measure of relief in mixed in their voices, and soon the last of them had gone through the door, taking their chattering elsewhere.

Akko was still there, standing by her desk. She was packed and ready to go, but it seemed her friends had left her alone…on who's insistence, Chariot wondered.

From a class with every seat full, to just the two of them. No doubt Akko wanted to talk, just as much as Chariot did. Though it seemed neither could find their words as the last footsteps from the rest of the class faded in the distance.

Akko approached, seeming casual, but her clenched hands and rigid steps said otherwise. Of course, Chariot herself could barely keep it together sitting down, even pointlessly pretending to read her roster once more for a silly instant. 

"Hi Chariot. That was a good lesson! I learned a lot, even using that really old book. I've never read about a Witch who can make the whole universe seem boring!"

Chariot stifled a laugh, nearly bursting out with an uncouth giggle. How easily that girl could spring delight out of her...

"Yes, it's a bit much. Ironically, I don't believe Lady Estrella liked the cosmos. Why she dedicated herself to a compendium of books on the subject is…odd."

"Yup."

Akko said her simple reply and stood in place in front of the teachers desk, swaying on her heels a little, still the girl was smiling wide. But when Chariot connected their stares, Akko's smile quivered a little, parting her lips with a sharp nervous sound, to which the girl blinked in surprise at her own reaction.

"Akko?"

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm just-! Hey, y'know what? Ummm, aaahhh…"

She squinted her eyes shut, her frame wilting a little at some internal battle. Chariot's own nervousness spiked at the clear blush glowing all across Akko's face. Chariot's next breath came too late, forcing a quick gasp to regain it.

"Chariot, listen I…hmm." The girl palmed her hands in front of her still-shut eyes. A Japanese prayer? "Ok, ok, ok…" She mumbled to herself, reopening her eyes and fixing them on an increasingly rattled Chariot.

Akko was clearly wrestling with something she wanted to say. But the girl was so anxious it didn't seem it was going to tumble out then.

Her breaths drawing sharper, Chariot pressed her own words, hoping Akko wouldn't notice her quickening draws for air. Pleading she would…

"You're…you must be a little tired, I imagine? I had to use a sleep potion last night…even though I was exhausted."

"You couldn't sleep easy too…?"

Such an innocent question, but it revealed so much. Chariot hadn't been able to ease herself to sleep for a very obvious reason. Was it the same for Akko?

"...well, I had a lot on my mind."

"Me too. I was thinking of you."

Chariot's breath caught again, heartbeat heavily thrumming in chest. Akko seemed to realise what it was she'd blurted out, and slapped her hands over her mouth. That one definitely wasn't a prayer.

"OH CRAP I-aah geez, why do I always make these things weird-"

As Akko complained a bit about how hard it was to express herself normally, Chariot took in a deep steadying breath before cutting Akko off mid-rant.

"I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss."

Akko halted, idle words lost on her parted lips, eyes anxiously wide. Waiting. The room seemed to absorb sound around them. They were definitely alone, even the attuned magics floating invisible about them somehow confirmed the fact. No one outside that door. Nobody even close by…

"So…Akko…" Chariot soothed the name on her tongue with deliberate gentleness, but also with a restrained air. "You're here. So am I."

Stop. She had to stop. Akko was teeming, pressing herself forward on the desk, leaning towards her. Every second was…!

"But...it's been a long day. It really has. Your friends will be worried. And-and…this is a classroom so I don't think it's…well…"

Akko scrunched her face up, confused. Her expressive brows arced with a tilt of the head, seeming to spy something incredibly interesting on Chariot's face.

"A-anyway!" Chariot followed weakly, voice shaking. "I know it can be difficult to put these things aside for a little while, even though I invited you to see me-"

Akko moved away, suddenly despondent, and headed for the door.

A painful twinge ached in Chariot's jaw at that. Why had she handled it like that? Akko wanted affection, and Chariot was _starved_ utterly for it. It was still her common sense coming through, pushing for space in a life completely alone-

Chariot heard a noise. A very, simple signature sound that nevertheless may as well have been amplified a hundred fold.

 _CLICK_

Akko was in front of the door, her back turned. She'd locked it…

Before moving, Akko spoke up with a solemn, incisive tone.

"Professor. I'll unlock this door. I'll leave right now if you want me to. Tell me **no**. And that's all."

The girl wasn't moving at all as she waited for Chariot's answer.

 _Akko I'm sorry. You're braver than I am…_

 _Maybe if we wait a month or two, it'll fade away?_

 _You're seventeen, Akko. This can't be what you want._

 _LITTLE CHARIOT AFRAID OF LOVE_

 _They'll find us. Today, tomorrow._

 _It's already over._

 _Done._

 _Ruiner._

Her worst self chimed it's piece once and fell silent, drowned in her love.

' _Quiet, all of you. I don't care to hate myself any more. This is what I want…'_

A rush of emotion pushed through so strongly it chattered her teeth, tears welled…but stayed. Akko was still at the door, her posture slumping with each of her anxious breaths, rapidly turning to soft sniffling.

Chariot had moved to her, clasping Akko's shoulder to which the girl whirled on the spot at the contact. She stared at Chariot wide-eyed and expectant, teeth lightly clenched, still silent and awaiting a proper answer.

"...and what about you?" Chariots voice so low, Akko's heavy breathing nearly muffled it. "Are you going to tell me No?"

Akko heaved a sort of half-laugh, dipping her head low for a moment like she was about to break down in tears, but then she fixated that wondrous look on Chariot, and her next words moved a very strange and pleasing shudder down the lines of the woman's taut back.

"Never." Akko's eyes set wide when she said it, her blush intensifying, seeming to somehow strengthen her will. Chariot had found a Star like no other, she really had. A gorgeous white glint glowing soft in her soul, scattering away all her pain.

"...Akko, you're-"

And just like that a barrier melted like glass between them. Chariot stepped forward, another starved breath joining between them in the instant before their shaking lips did the same.

What was she doing? What was she…?

"Mhm…!" A brief mewl shuddered out of the woman when her senses caught up to what she was experiencing. The heady, overwhelming emotion magnified that honeyed taste she drew in so selfishly; pressing gentle her mouth onto hers whilst squinting her eyes shut. But she was so anxious a tremble along her neck shook across her whole body with a start, breaking their connection after only a few seconds.

Chariot pulled away but didn't step back, standing slightly arced over her beloved student, her sweet Akko. The woman couldn't help but clutch her own hands together in front of her waist, squeezing tight to compose herself in light of what was taking place.

"Ahh…" Akko breathed heavy, eyes fluttering open to regard Chariot with a dreamlike joy. Small, gliding traces on her lips still beckoned Chariot from so close…but she still could not move. The shaking in her shoulders was becoming relentless.

Without any prompt, Akko reached her hands out and slowly plucked Chariot's glasses from her nose, then slid her free hand behind the woman's neck before gently sliding her hat off. Just with that, another trembling jolt spun wild within when the bare hush of Akko's fingers traced the fine hairs on her bristling skin with the motion.

Abruptly, with the kind of surprise and shock Chariot would never be used to, Akko pressed into her with a clutching embrace that sent her stumbling backwards a little with a muffled whimper of words.

"Akko! _Eh_ -!"

She couldn't work her tangled feet and fell back, miraculously slotting right back into her teacher's chair with Akko now moving over her, roaming her scarred but gentle hands across both sides of Chariot's euphorically burning face. Feebly, Chariot stared up at that unfeasible girl, at her chocolate bangs falling loose and uneven across her furiously blushing expression of need.

Whatever remained of her fears and will mattered nothing as her whole body sank into the seat, one wave after another of pure elation guiding her to a place Chariot never believed would ever be meant for her. That simple, effervescent sensation grew with every gentle stroke Akko gifted her with. She simply let the girl explore, allowing Akko to grace her nervous curiosity with slow traces of her hands; stroking her cheeks, cupping her chin before moving the contact back to caress her loving touch from Chariot's forehead back down yet again. All the while the woman stared and watched, submitted to the joy with slow, wistful blinks of her teary eyes.

"I can't believe this is real." The girl whispered with a shrill excitement. "I've lived this so many times in my head but-but that was nothing…oh please… _please_ just-"

Chariot granted her wish before she could finish, sealing any further words with another kiss. Only stronger that time, with the woman using a brief and tiny flare of her strength to wrap the girl in an embrace, pulling her firmly close.

Akko did not shy away, in fact she challenged it, matching her own will to press back as her previously fluttering grip entangled tighter around her neck and back. The girl's hands roamed…clutching and stroking and caressing more…all the while amorously deepening the kiss.

She allowed it all. Let the bliss the pleasure the doom just run its course. And when Akko gingerly seated herself sideways across her shaking thighs, peeling apart the kiss by a bare inch as she did so, the woman petered a curious low noise. A high-pitched sigh of pleasure sonorous against Akko's open smile.

It was only the briefest of hesitations before Akko roved in aggressively; huffing breaths melding into another kiss that pressed Chariot's head back against her chair, then to her immense shock felt the girl press _through_ their dewed lips, causing a sharp whine to quiver out of the woman.

The sound was loud enough to snap them both from their wondrous reverie, with Akko reeling back a fraction and immediately appearing apologetic.

"O-oh! Oh, wait…I'm sorry…I thought it was-"

Chariot didn't want any apologies, instead answering Akko's pleas for forgiveness by wrapping the girl in a gentle hug; nuzzling her nose in the warm shapes of Akko's soft neck. Her fragrance of earth and sweets delightful as it was unique.

Then, she told the girl something no one else on that Earth knew save for herself.

"A-Akko…I've never…this is my first…"

A myriad of emotions glistened in that kind girl's gaze. First genuine surprise, restraint, before giving way to understanding.

"I guess, just one more thing we share in common, huh?"

"Mhm."

"For a while I kept figuring that…that when _it_ happened, you'd know what to do. I didn't think you'd never…but you're so _beautiful!_ Is everyone nuts?"

Chariot giggled softly, parting the embrace a little so Akko could sit more evenly, albeit still incredibly close.

"There's still so much we don't know about each other."

"Yeah." Akko replied, her eyes alight with exhilaration. "It's so exciting! I really feel like I can tell you anything!"

"As do I." She said, planting a gentler, sweeter peck on the girls lips. "As do I."

Something distant in the atmosphere changed. Chariot knew Akko would never feel it, not with her abilities still so underdeveloped.

It was hard to articulate but…Chariot understood that they are almost out of time. Clairvoyance hadn't allowed her to ignore the event hurtling ever closer; she'd known since that very morning but had chosen to ignore it. There was no terror to be felt, just acceptance. After all, how could she feel anything else staring into those starlit eyes?

"Akko." She breathed, lightly grasping her face and pulled the girl close. Not for a kiss but instead to gently dip their foreheads together; never breaking their fervent stares.

"Akko-I love and adore you, always." Chariot repeated the name, then hushed one more word. " _Dormina"_

Immediately the girls wildly expressive visage of joy faded when the stout sleep spell took effect. A last, quivering sigh and her eyes lidded shut; her body relaxing to rest lighter than air in Chariot's embrace.

Carefully, the woman slid out of the chair and allowed Akko to remain on it; the girl quickly easing into the seat whilst resting her head on one of the arm rests and using Chariot's discarded hat as a pillow. Akko almost seemed to deflate into the chair, already on the distant journey of much-needed sleep. She must've been exhausted for the spell to have worked so quickly that poor girl…

Akko. Poor Akko.

Footsteps. Deeply concerned voices mixed with them as the sounds closed in. Chariot knew it was over, but didn't dare look away from her precious, slumbering star. She wanted to remember that sight, engraved forever in her soul like the beautiful sin it was.

The knob on the classroom door rattled briefly, followed by a series of sharp knocks and Finnelan's grouchy drawl sounding through.

"Professor! A word! An urgent matter needs to be discussed with the Committee! Professor!"

More warnings, Chariot idly wondered whether to go unlock the door. What did it matter really? In any case, a key was worked in from outside allowing Chariots retribution to enter in a staccato of angry, over-lapping noise punctuated by Finnelan's voice again.

"PROFESSOR!"

Chariot turned to meet them, taking in their concerned faces with Holbrooke's standing out most of all; the small, kindly woman appearing… _exhausted._ The woman's will quivered somewhat at that.

"Professor Chariot Du Nord! You will imm-"

A powerful force of magic suddenly erupted in the centre of their impromptu gathering. Chariot reeled back in a daze at the azure light warping before her, instinctively shielding herself across Akko's sleeping form against whatever was happening.

Another inwards surge of magical fire and just like that it was over.

But…

The figure rising from a kneel where the sudden power had appeared…

Chariot saw her and yet her mind couldn't comprehend it. Once, twice, three times she blinked hard expecting the image of her beloved friend Croix to vanish like a fleetingly cruel dream. However she remained, looking much like Chariot had seen her last, only with a curious book tucked in her arms.

"Chariot!" She yelped in delight, taking a single step forward but freezing in place, probably noting something was very wrong.

Croix reluctantly turned her gaze away to peer at the assembled Professors lined at her back; each of them different shades of incredibly confused and silent.

Slowly, Croix turned back to Chariot but with her increasingly darkening stare holding on the sight of Akko still blissfully asleep in the chair, before the striking teal of her eyes fell upon Chariot.

"...Just what is happening here?"

=][=


	8. Chaotic Love, Together in the Dark

_AN: Hello everyone. First off a huge thanks to all the reviewers, your kind encouragement, and all your constructive criticism. I always take in feedback with great enthusiasm, and I do truly feel I learn so much more about how to write from reading all your responses. It all goes to heart, then the noggin. Thank you all again. This last chapter is kinda flawed, but ending these things is incredibly difficult, so really I'm just happy I was able to get this far at all. Unfinished work is a bad habit of mine, and completing a piece might help me move on to other projects, and just move on in general really. I hope you all are doing great, and thank you (a third time) for reading my stuff. Cherish those you love, no matter how embarrassing it might look. Everyone wants to hear how much you mean to others, but it's always hard to speak out such a thing. You can never really know if someone needs help until you reach out. Peace._

 _Special Thanks to my dear friend, My Intelligence, for writing to me, giving me advice, and just being so so sweet to me. Hope you enjoy this one too, Kai!_

 _NOTE: Some 'risky' stuff in this one. Nothing too lewd but…well worthy of a word of warning is all._

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Chaotic Love, Together in the Dark_

Chariot stood seized numb with shock and rooted to the spot upon witnessing Croix literally materialise before her, with the only other working thought going into recognising that Luna Nova's chief faculty were reacting in much the same way. Only Finnelan seemed closest to speaking up in the moment, her face lighting up in a stressing hue of red as she started to spit and sputter in growing rage. Thought still reeling emotionally, Chariot saw clearly the grouchy Professor's distaste for the particular Witch who'd made a most sudden entrance, and braced herself for the situation to only spiral deeper down an unsearchable chasm.

At last, Finnelan practically exploded in a tirade of spat words directed at Croix's back, whom was still stoically facing Chariot, her expression a cold mask.

"C-C-C- _ **CROIX**! _What is the meaning of this?! You have no cause to be in this academy! Or have you appeared simply to disrupt our due process! Explain yourself! And is that-!"

Finnelan seemed to notice Akko's sleeping form still curled serenely in the confines of the teachers chair behind the desk. The petulant woman's look of anger took on an extra curl of clear disgust, her fingers even clasping onto her holstered wand.

"-that proves it! What cause is there to put Ms Kagari under a sleeping spell!? Headmistress!" She addressed the small elder standing beside her who was eerily silent. "Your trust has been betrayed! A crime most impure! She-!"

"Be silent, will you." Croix cut her off, never having reacted in the slightest to Finnelan's outburst until then. "Chariot…I want to hear it from you. I need to know what's happening…"

The silence and the terrifying stares gleaming her way cheated apart her will. She'd only meant to suffer the consequences alone, that was why Akko was under that spell. Had she been awake the girl would've undoubtedly rose fearlessly to her defence; something Chariot could not allow. Atsuko Kagari was not going to get herself expelled or worse for Chariots' mistake.

Her wretched, selfish, wonderful, _loving_ mistake.

"I…I…"

The stares froze unblinking, Croix's among them eventually taking absolute dominance over the others. Chariot struggled to speak, but managed somehow as a spark of her previous bravery re-emerged; having been stifled with the sudden return of her oldest friend. To Chariot's first love, it hurt most of all to speak her lie.

It was self-destruction. Chariot knew. Why couldn't she stop herself from that yet again? Did she truly hate herself so…

"...I seduced her. Akko. In my loneliness I took advantage of her respect and trust for me. She only came to me for help a-and…I wanted **Her**. I could've stopped it all but didn't. I wanted to _feel_ something again."

A collective noise of dark mutterings and befuddled gasps followed. Croix made no such noise, her expression still unreadable. Though her knuckles were turning bone-white from clutching the odd book to her chest with worrying force.

Holbrooke spoke up then, silencing the disapproving exchange of harsh words among the faculty with a sharp tap of her staff on the ground.

"I suppose there's no denying it then. I did not believe it until I heard it in your own words, Chariot. Honestly I still can't fathom you did such a thing. But regardless, you must understand you have no place in this Academy now."

' _I understand…'_ She'd tried to say, but a sombre, defeated sigh was her only response to Holbrooke, and the other sets of scowling, accusing faces.

Finnelan couldn't help herself and chimed in loudly.

"Your duties here are over! But that won't be the end of it! I'll personally see to it that you receive appropriate criminal treatment for what you have done! Not since the founding of Luna Nova has such a perversion taken place under its roof! Now you will kindly come with us, _Witch!"_

Finnelan managed one step forward before Croix snapped around to face them, standing her ground between the two groups. Only then did Chariot start to take proper notice that there was something very different about Croix after all. Like she was beyond the scope of something…beyond anything resembling their understanding. Just what had she seen on her journey? What was Croix going to do?

"We'll be having none of that." She said coldly. Chariot couldn't see her face, but her stance was rigid and defiant. The Professors shirked somewhat, but Finnelan countered with another haughty step forward, drawing her wand with a sharp flick as she did so.

"So that's how it is then. Your appearing here wasn't coincidence after all! You've come here to allow your immoral associate to defy her punishment! Well not while I have a say!"

"That's always been your problem, Ann. You never knew when to keep your beak shut."

"You _**wretch**_ -!

SNAP!

The piercing noise of Croix's weird book clapping shut halted that scene on the spot. Quite literally it seemed, as Chariot saw no reason for Finnelan to completely stop moving; her hateful scowl scribbled with a spell half-formed on her jutted tongue. The lot of them were frozen in their last movements, their looks oblivious to that ridiculous fact. What manner of powerful magic had that been, Chariot wondered, finding her voice again within that troubling curiosity.

"They're not moving…what spell was that? Are they hurt?"

A twitch across Croix's shoulder at those words. She turned a little to face her; emotions still unreadable. But the cold sharpness in the teal of her eyes, Chariot still scrambled to figure out.

"Are _they_ hurt? Is that what you just asked me?"

Suddenly Croix sauntered away, heading for the door the faculty had moments before burst through. Only when she was mid-transition through the yawning frame did she mutter something out.

"Come with me. Bring the girl if you wish."

Her friend didn't pause a second for a response as she left Chariot there stunned. With no other avenue at that point, and with the frozen, judgemental stares of the Professors as company, Chariot hushed a prayer under her breath and scooped Akko up from the chair. The girl latched onto her back easily by some instinct, not even a flutter of disturbance across her serene, sleeping form.

Chariot scampered after Croix, not daring to look at the stopped faces, fearing perhaps that they could still see her…

"Croix, wait! What did you…h-hey!" She cried out as she chased the woman's quickly retreating form. Almost immediately Chariot felt an awful disturbance throttling the air around her, a chilling aura stifling her magical energy. Even the colours appeared blurred and washed out; like a badly remembered dream. All sound save their own echoes had stopped, and before Chariot really tried to figure out what Croix had done, the woman scurried past a few students halted in place mid-transition on a flight of stairs, faces set in stone and words completely stalled.

Scrambling in both mind and body as she raced to catch up, Chariot pulled a small astronomical watch on a silver chain from her pocket and promptly peered at it, a quick terror shaking her confidence on what it displayed.

The various tiny spheres within the smooth bulb of the instrument had fallen still.

Absolutely impossible, but there her eyes were not betraying her.

Croix hadn't just frozen everyone nearby, she'd completely stopped time itself…on a _galactic_ scale…

With a cold trembling hand she pocketed the watch and re-hoisted Akko to rest more comfortably on her back, the small motion causing the girl to shift a tiny fraction but remain still, now nuzzling the back of the woman's quivering neck. Her whispered air a metronome of chills that rose a beautiful second where Chariot simply didn't care that the cosmos had crashed to a halt, or if such a thing could be reversed.

"Hmrm..." Akko's slack arms coiled fluid and instinctively, joining across Chariot's sternum.

The woman had been momentarily dazzled by the girl that when she refocused her attention back to Croix, a startled gasp sounded from her when Chariot took in her surroundings. Somehow they'd left the interior of the school, already surrounded by the twisting verdant life of trees and meadows, though it all looked blurred and warped, more akin to a fleeting glimpse at a painting of reality.

It took another stunned moment for Chariot to see the steps she'd taken weren't actually moving her, the world itself moved FOR her. Or rather, by Croix's will.

Her friend continued to push forward, heading for some point in that familiar brush as the Earth shifted by her, taking Chariot and Akko along into that miasma of stalled colour and time.

Again, perhaps in futility, Chariot yelled her desperate shout which actually seemed to reach Croix, who spun on the spot to face her; the world itself shunting still the moment she did so.

Before she could figure if Croix had heeded her at all, the book open in her hands snapped shut, startling Chariot with the oddly magnified sound. More importantly, like the breath of life itself, the forest they'd moved into the heart of breezed into motion once more; a whistling shrill of wind accompanying the abrupt transition, whipping Chariots red bangs across her eyes.

"We need to have a talk, Chariot." Her friend declared from a few paces in front as she stood tense beside the base of a very familiar tree, it's shade oddly beckoning. "You should put the girl down. No one's going to find us here. They never did back then after all."

There was no point refusing her. What else was Chariot going to do? Try to run away? From a Witch who could apparently control time itself on a whim? Still shaken by that kind of power, she carefully set Akko to lean gently on the trunk of that tree, only then remembering it was a place her and Croix had frequented what felt like a lifetime ago.

"This is- _mmff!"_

She'd meant to leave Akko to rest but the girl refused to pry her twisting grip loose, shocking Chariot with a sudden kiss before the woman could attempt to pull away. Croix uttered an uncomfortable scoff from beside Chariot.

"...another nice dream…" Akko murmured with her eyes flickering open, still glassy from sleep, but her listless, amorous daze quickly switched to surprise and panic when the girl took in her surroundings. She quickly let Chariot go and scampered clumsily to her feet, yelping out one of her trademarks shouts.

"Waaagh! What! This is-!" Her panicked attention fell on Croix, who watched the two of them coldly with a slight upturn of her chin. It wasn't a look of distaste or disgust, Croix was still in a state of baffled shock, at least that's what Chariot hoped. "P-P-PROFESSOR CROIX! You're-we weren't-uhhh-oh man!"

Croix evenly raised a free palm from clutching her book to quieten Akko, but didn't say anything herself. The few seconds of silence gnawed with an uncomfortable air, until Chariot forced herself to speak before she lost her voice to nervous embarrassment completely.

"Akko! Please, calm yourself. I had you under a sleep spell and-" She hesitated on what to say further. The girls' sudden awakening wasn't something she'd anticipated. Really, everything that day was becoming increasingly baffling by the minute.

"You…put me under a spell? Why…?" The girl asked timidly, scrunching the hems of her skirt slightly.

Croix interjected suddenly, her tone callous and distant. "I happened to return just as Chariot was about to throw herself to the wolves. She must have applied the sleep spell to prevent you from rising to her defence. Anything you'd like to add to that-" A shimmer in that teal gaze as Croix focused it on the woman. "-Chariot?"

She wasn't able to respond, even as a pleading look sent her way from Akko nearly broke her will to remain standing.

"You were already asleep when they came." Her friend spoke for her matter-of-factly, drawing Akko to peer at Croix nervously, shuffling a little closer to Chariot in the process. "She explained to them that you were seduced, Akko. That despite everything I know about Chariot Du Nord, a lifetime of watching her destroy chances at happiness again and again; that she would take advantage of a student in her care…"

Another rolling wave of cool wind passed through, rustling and weaving leaves and clothing alike about them. Croix's short hair whipped astir, but the shades of piercing teal in her eyes stared ahead at Chariot unflinching, blurred by so many emotions the woman couldn't figure what her friend was getting at, or what was going to happen.

"I've never heard something so ridiculous. So please…"

Her voice dropped an octave, one moment chilling and powerful and all of a sudden sputtering out so weakly. Her expression also lit up with sudden pain, Croix's lean jaw set in a grimace, eyes narrowed grimly to keep composure, but failing every passing moment.

"I need you to tell me what really happened, Chariot. Just the truth and nothing more. No matter how much it hurts. Even if it _destroys_ me, I need to know!"

Croix's shrill shout further rattled her nerve, reminding Chariot of the way her friend had reacted upon uncovering the secret of the Words; a desperate pleading in her voice as everything that used to make sense started to shatter in slow, crippling motion.

Croix was about to break, the trembling shake along her legs evidence enough of that. Akko had fallen silent, staring at a spot on the ground with a pensive expression, no doubt frightfully nervous about the ordeal she was witnessing. A brief look from those cherry-auburn eyes flickered up at Chariot's own, and the sublime patience and apprehension awash in such a brief connection ignited the woman's heart. How, even with all had just taken place, there wasn't an ounce of doubt visible…?

And perhaps too, Akko wanted to hear it all in Chariot's own words.

She started her explanation, speaking as calmly as her shaking voice could allow.

"After the last night we spoke…I had a terrible nightmare of being alone…"

Chariot's confessions ended up spilling out of her mind at a pace her lips could barely keep. There wasn't a single thing she omitted, not even the details of the very first kiss they'd shared. The utter despair dashed aside so powerfully by Akko's impossible love. Chariot's own, and admittedly miserably flawed, sense of self-punishment for the mistakes of her past. Even beyond the point of any reasonable logic. Chariot let it all cascade out of her, no matter how wretched or selfish she told them both everything, their silent rapture unnerving. Croix seemed to have composed herself somewhat during Chariot's speech, seemingly wrestling with her own no doubt dizzying dilemma of what to do.

Why didn't she look disgusted? Why even hear her out for that long? When would she spit out _enough of your excuses_ and leave Chariot to the cruel fate she'd chosen for herself?

Croix only listened quietly.

"You wanted to protect me again?" Akko spoke up during a short lull as Chariot literally had to catch her breath. "You knew I'd stand up to the whole world for you, but you didn't let me try!"

Slight pain in her tone, but Chariot answered her just plea with something she understood Akko was too blinded by love to really consider.

"And your friends, Akko? The bonds you've created with so many in these walls. All those cherished memories and moments of time never to be repeated? Could you honestly say you wished to cast all that aside completely? That there'd be no regret despite the wonderful life you've continued to share with all of them?"

A flare of indignant motion ran across her whole body for a retort, but quickly her demeanour turned sheepish when it never came. Akko looked away with a sad, guilty pout that told Chariot everything. Just like herself the bewildering energy from their forbidden affair had clouded the bigger picture. Chariot was only one person, and that precious girl cared far too much for her peers and friends to truly disregard them, not even for love. However, a sharp sting of defiance still existed in that girl's posture and expression, muddling Chariot's appraisal of it. She felt her actions were just but-

They were alike in so many ways. Only where Akko had a seemingly infinite font of positive light that bettered the lives of everyone who gave her a chance, Chariot had no such endearing quality.

Akko let the woman's heart beat, but her soul was still punctured by self-hatred. Always ready to destroy herself. Again and again.

…What a complete failure she was as a woman. As a teacher. Even her 'noble' sacrifice for the girl's future meant nothing. And like every low point in her life, it was all her fault.

Chariot didn't know what in the world to do any more.

Just before her knees buckled, before her pain overwhelmed her, Akko stepped in and buried her herself into a tight hug around Chariot's waist.

"Stop it, Chariot…that look on your face…please, don't go that way."

The girls' shrill, warbling timbre was muffled a little against the fabric of her clothes. Stunned, Chariot peered helpless down at Akko as she lifted her head to gaze directly at her; the shining pink and red dusting her cheeks rapidly streaking with trails of tears.

But not just Akko's. So lost was Chariot in that horrid centre of self-loathing that her own stream of crying had gone unnoticed, the tiny droplets pattering down on the girl's face, merging their sadness.

"But it's ok to cry. Until there's no need to."

A sweet smile through the tears, accentuated by a treacly innocent blink that widened it more, and just like that Chariot broke into a million pieces.

A soft wail dragged out from her throat as her legs buckled and the two of them, still embraced, sank to the ground. She wheezed deeply through her cries, shaking and trembling, and somehow managed to lift her limp arms to grasp Akko close, to return that beautiful love. Chariot couldn't look her in the eyes and simply hid her face on the girls shoulder, leaning slightly into her neck as her shame and sadness poured without end.

"Sssh, it's alright. I'm here Chariot, just like you've always been there for me. I don't care how many mistakes are made. But I won't stand to see you hate yourself. You deserve to be loved! And I'll be the one to do it! I won't let you suffer alone, even if it's what you want!"

Chariot called her name with a near-soundless weep.

"... _Akko…"_

"Look at me."

She did so, vision again blurred by heavy tears but Akko's beautiful, sweet visage swam into view clearer than anything the woman had ever witnessed. Those cherry eyes, like crystal. Warm, heartfelt smile unshakeable, invincible. Absolutely wonderful.

"You don't have to promise me anything. But I want you to see yourself the way I see you. Then you won't be scared ever again, Chariot. You never have to be afraid of being alone."

Akko glided her fingertips across Chariot's prickling skin, clearing away more tears before her hands settled on either cheek, all the while holding her loving, radiant gaze; the warmth from the girl's hands easing the helpless trembling wracking Chariot's neck and shoulders. Her sadness too ebbed away every instant, submerged back into the well of pain far deeper than it ever had before. It was a different kind of magic, the sort everyone had the capacity to embrace, but so few had the strength to do so.

But Akko was special. No, beyond such a word. Closer to a miracle. And by the Nine, through every shredded coil twisting in her heavy heart, Chariot began to truly allow it to settle in that formerly numb core in her soul. Rather than self-hatred, sadness…Akko's beautiful smile replaced it all. Her breathing slowed, returning to a semblance of normal. Her first few gasps tasted so sweet, nearly intoxicating her with the girl's unique earthen aroma.

"I love you, Chariot. Doesn't matter how many times I have to say it. I'll keep doing it forever if I have to. I love you, I _love you!_ And you have every right in the world to make yourself happy! _"_

A sort delighted gasp skipped out from Chariot, pushing a single rolling tear down her cheek as she leaned forward gently and rested her forehead against Akko's own. The air about them cooled, their respective magical aura's resonating as the soft winds embraced them, playing with loose strands of hair that danced loose between them.

"Akko…bless you. Bless your heart for putting up with a Witch like me. Even though I'm so weak, through mistake after mistake I've made, you've forgiven me. I feel like, I want to give you everything I have left…"

Akko actually smirked at her, a strange almost wicked light in her expression. Was that…hunger? When the girl brought up Chariots hands wrapped gingerly in her own, planting soft kisses across her knuckles, hushing excited breaths that curled excitedly; eyelashes fluttering with rapid, expectant blinks, each one deepening her gaze of want. Chariot's limbs trembled throughout, teeth chattering at the sudden desire melting whatever was left of her self-control. She was so close to her, tasting Akko's very air, delicious ripples dancing on her tongue. She wanted it. Wanted to…

"Perhaps this isn't the best place for that, don't you two think?"

But then came a hit of embarrassing shame to knock all that aside. Croix had been standing there the whole time, watching them in silence. So absorbed had Chariot been with the girl it had felt like partaking in a wonderfully ridiculous dream, free from any all judgement or witness. Not even the stars had existed in those moments. It was just...Akko. Everything was Akko. And it had all made perfect sense.

Akko too seemed to share a familiar train of thought when she uttered another yelp and whipped her head about to stare at Croix who at some point had sat down to rest against the comfy trunk of that signature tree that stood like a show piece in the middle of that lush glade. A single beam of soft sunlight gleamed across her from on high, and the unreadable mask of her expression chased that light wistfully. Or was that…relief?

Chariot picked herself up shakily, strength still waned but returning, and lifted Akko up so they stood side-by-side as Croix continued to speak. What she was going to say, Chariot had no idea.

But she wouldn't fear condemnation. Never again.

"You know, up until this point I was convinced that bastard sorcerer had put me under some kind of spell, and I cursed myself for ever having let myself feel even a little hope that things would turn out fine. That I could simply have everything I wished for."

Croix opened her book across her lap, seemingly pulling a tiny vial of white powder from one of its pages. After murmuring some kind of incantation Chariot couldn't make out, the vial fell apart with a twinkle in her outstretched hand, falling through her fingertips like sand before vanishing entirely.

Chariot immediately felt an odd sensation, as if some kind of presence that had been pressing her shoulders down had abruptly retracted into oblivion. A lightness overcame her, moving like a flush inside her very blood. What in the world…?

"But this is all real, isn't it? You two actually fell in love." A barely noticeable sting of gloom flashed in those eyes, before steeling once more. "I can't say I approve or disapprove, after all who am I of all people to judge right from wrong, after the sins I've committed?"

Croix hoisted herself up, still focusing her gaze up that beam of sunlight.

"So I've kept my promise, Chariot. Wagandeas' curse is no more."

Akko made a little excited yelp, gripping Chariot's forearm but the woman herself couldn't move, couldn't believe what she'd just heard. But it only took a second of searching within herself to know she could fly again. As if that ability had never left her in the first place.

"Croix! You-you really did it! I-I-I…" She stammered, a piercing joy of relief added to her growing pastiche of swirling emotions. A sudden impulse to wrap her dear friend in a hug overcame her, but it was Akko who sprung forward first and did just that, wailing out a string of laughter and cries. Croix tensed uneasily as the girl poured out her gratitude, looking over to Chariot as if to ask _what do I do in this situation?_

That look crushed Chariots sadness further into dust, and with her own graceless laugh she launched forward and joined Akko in hugging the bemused woman, their words of thanks and gratitude mixing into a staccato of crying noise.

At first Croix was stiff in posture, but as Chariot held on she felt the woman soften and calm in her arms, until eventually she embraced them both, holding them close with her misting eyes closing shut; her grim frown finally relaxing unto a semblance of serenity.

When they all parted, Croix actually held an effortless smile.

"I guess it was…" She began, but Chariot noted her voice had come out broken, until a haughty cough cleared it. "It was all worth it then. And although you were a little late, you did keep your promise too, Chariot."

She wondered for a second what Croix meant, but quickly recalled the parting words they'd shared that fateful night. _When I return, the first thing I want to see is your smile._

Of course. She was smiling wide then, so much so her face seemed to hurt from it. The drying moisture on her cheeks from all that crying cracked and shifted with the heady joy she was expressing.

Croix looked closer than ever to tears herself, but her invincible composure stayed them. A tiny glimmer in the corners of those brilliant green orbs, that was all.

"Chariot." Akko spoke up, right palm now resting softly against her forearm as she peered upwards at the woman, wielding her own incredible smile, though fraught with a shaken worry. "…what happens now?"

The girl had posed the question innocently enough, but a slight pleading timbre spoke a thousand things at once. She wanted to know what Chariot was going to allow after all that had happened. If she was simply going to accept her punishment for breaking the rules.

In truth, Chariot did not know. So much had happened that day…was there any chance of things going back to the way it all had? It was no longer a question if she deserved it or not.

Chariot wanted…she just wanted to keep that wonderful happiness.

Her silence hadn't been the answer Akko had wanted, and with an adorable and playful pout the girl continued to stare at her until it came.

But before she could even start to form a satisfying answer, it was Croix again who interjected, addressing them both with the book in her hands open wide and its pages fluttering to and fro on their own will.

"Listen, both of you. I'm through caring about how things are 'supposed' to be done. Of the expected, the normal, the fair, the unfair; to hell with all those words. I can do anything I want with this book of mine. Nothing will ever get in my way again. And right now, the only wish I could think of granting would be for you and Atsuko to to get another chance, even after all that's happened."

Chariot tensed slightly at those words. What was Croix getting at? Perhaps she meant to…

"Croix, wait…you're going to change something in this world? I don't think-"

"There you go again, Chariot. I already know what you want to say. It's 'wrong' to change things, isn't it? You'd give up another chance of happiness just because it isn't 'right'. That you don't deserve it. Well, if you're not going to give yourself a chance, then I suppose I'll take that into my own hands."

"Professor Croix, what're you-?" Akko piped up, but her questioning was interrupted when a surge of howling wind wrapped around Croix's form; the sudden power of it clearly anything from normal. Akko jumped in surprise and gripped Chariot's arm as the woman mimicked the same motion on instinct.

"Croix!" She shouted, shielding Akko from the abrupt force that kicked up all manner of leaves and branches about in such a maelstrom of colours Chariot could scarcely make out her friend standing only a few feet away; that bizarre book now glowing in an intense white light from its fluttering pages. "You can't! You don't need to do this! Not for me!"

The magical aura reached a dizzying crescendo, the like Chariot didn't think possible. In a panic she realised her feet had left the ground at some point, along with completely losing her sense of where the floor even was. Akko's wild yelling barely reached her ears, and her instinct to hold her close became absolute. The very world and all its colours and shapes became an indistinguishable blur, forcing Chariot to grimly shut her eyes, all the while gripping her arms tight around the girl, never to let go.

 _It'll be alright._ That voice, somehow sounding within her own thoughts. Everything was spinning, she was falling, or flying? What in the world was happening?

 _You two can try again. But I'll be needing to find something for myself in another time, another life. I can't involve myself in your happiness…_

Chariot willed herself to try and scream out to her, but the force of magic was so powerful she was helpless to resist.

 _Maybe one day I'll have the courage to tell you why. But until then…_

A lurching sensation of falling to Earth gripped fear in Chariot's core, the storm of sound was deafening. Akko's clutching fingertips digging into her arms…

… _just believe in her Heart. Believe in yours. You deserve so much joy, Chariot. And when I see you again, I want you to be the Chariot born to bring that happiness to everyone. Including yourself._

 _You can always call on me. Until then, goodbye my friend._

The twisting world slowed to a glacial, nearly serene pace around Chariot and Akko, as if they'd been dipped in cool water feet-first. A soft breeze tickled the air, along with several familiar sensations and aromas that quickly eased the former panic the woman had experienced.

When Chariot managed to open her eyes, every angle she witnessed was all wondrous vistas of stars; the cosmos itself. Endless shades of warm blues, with blankets of glittering lights washing over it all. Somehow, a heady, almost unbelievable sense of calm overcame her. Even more so when Akko opened her own eyes to take in the sight the two of them were slowly floating through, unabashed wonder and awe glowing bright in that soft auburn hue.

They still held each other tight, spinning slowly through the beautiful space, but even such a sight only distracted them very briefly before they were both lost in the sea of stars held in each other's shimmering gazes.

"This is so weird but…" Akko breathed a gentle sigh, all worry vanished from her expression. "…I feel like we're going home."

Chariot hummed softly in response, tracing a loose thread of that auburn hair away from the girl's forehead.

"I have no idea what's going on." Akko continued, chirping out a brief and incredulous laugh, but one filled with joy all the same. "Maybe I'm still asleep somewhere. Maybe all that's happened has just been some weird, _wonderful_ dream. That I actually got to have you! You, Chariot! My Dream Come True!"

"Perhaps. None of this has felt completely real to me either. That you, of everyone in my life, would give me your heart and soul. And that I would gladly give them to you."

A sharp pang of sadness robs Akko's smile at that, and the girl again buries her face into Chariot's chest.

"I don't want to wake up. I want this to be real. I want you too much to let it all go!"

Chariot placed a soft kiss atop her head, remaining there with the wondrous sensations of the girl's essence sent her already elated emotions dancing wild and free with every deep breath.

"I won't let go. No matter what happens to me. Dream or not I'm yours. All of me. Yours. Not even my weakness will get in the way. Never again, Akko."

The movement of the cosmos halted; it's wondrous lights reshaping back into a mundane room about them. Their ridiculous journey at an end. And just like that, they were Home.

=][=

Another time, another place. Croix Meridies rested comfortably against the base of that same tree once more; staring up into the canopies of the surrounding life, dapples of sunlight glowing through the natural ceiling of leaves and branches, making all its colours shimmer beautifully.

Everything was as she remembered it. All her senses told her it was completely real. The only thing truly different was…herself. Rather, she had reverted back to what she had once been.

Croix was seventeen years old again. But her knowledge of the world, and the ridiculous book she'd dubbed Tome Zero had remained by her will. That item, granter of dreams, sat utterly inconspicuous by her knees.

But truly, despite the infinite scope of what that book could do, Croix's attention shifted completely to the girl asleep against her right shoulder.

It was Chariot. The loving memory of her returned made whole; the once flowing mane of crimson now an adorable and innocent tuft of red that seemed to sparkle in that light. Her eyes closed softly, a tiny gap parted on those lips with serene, rhythmic breaths whispering out; the small yet powerful shape of her body rising and falling minuscule with her restful sleep.

How long did Croix stare at her…? The real sight completely put those memories to shame, reshaping them, causing a sudden gamut of powerful emotions to ripple through her own body. There'd been a moment in that endless instant where Croix considered the audacity of what she had wished for herself; to return to the point in her life where everything would have changed for the better, for the both of them, if she had simply accepted the girl who had so swiftly stolen her heart, when nothing else in that world-or any other realm for that matter, could ever hope to do so.

Was it right? Was it fair?

That consideration vaporised as quickly as it had come. In an instant Croix knew and understood exactly what she wanted, gazing lovingly at the girl she'd shunned for so long.

Perhaps it was due to reverting to her younger self, but for the rarest of times her composure wobbled and broke, overcoming all control as a flow of tears and silent cries swept out of her soul all at once. No effort worked to stem it all, and soon enough the trembling of her body with each scattered breath awoke the girl sleeping by her side.

Chariot blinked groggily a few times, ending with an uncouth yawn, and when she realised Croix was beset with crying her brow furrowed in a mix of concern and genuine surprise.

"Croix…what…? You're crying?"

She placed a warm hand on Croix's shoulder. By the Nine, the sheer life and kindness flowing throughout such a simple gesture. No doubt remained that Croix completely loved her so.

"It's ok, it's ok….hey." Ruby-red eyes shimmering with altruistic innocence, verging on tears by the compass of the girl's beautiful heart that selflessly absorbed the pain of others. "You can tell me what's wrong…I'll listen to anything you want to say. Y-You can trust me. I'm always here for you."

The shaking terror Croix was experiencing. She had to ask her then. Or else her mind might cease to function completely. A worrying light-headedness begun to grip her, and with her final shred of courage she blurted, almost yelled her piece, cutting off Chariot's curious words.

"Croix-"

"Chariot, would you mind terribly if I stole your first kiss?"

The girl seized immediately, falling so still as if time itself had released her from its yoke. Crawling shades of shining red swam up from her neck until her entire expression was covered in that blush.

"It's taken far longer than you might understand for me to realise how much I love everything you are. I want to stay by your side, use all of my magic and skill, to see your dream of a happier world come to fruition. I have no doubt we can change it all for the better. If you'd allow me, Chariot…"

Croix barely finished saying her name when that very girl leaned in with a sharp breath and connected their lips as one.

She saw galaxies born within rainbows of fire. The soft earth beneath her seemed to fall away as she soared on trembling joy and excitement, the very blood in her veins surged electric. She tasted every sweet wonderful thing all at once, its dizzying sensation playing endlessly as she drew it all so selfishly but without any care to any petty thing beyond that very moment.

The chaos Croix may have created to have it all. She cared not.

When they finally separated, tear-stricken crimson and teal eyes fluttering open to regard each other in loving disbelief, Croix knew she was feeling the start of a joy she hadn't believed to be a reality, let alone for one as cold as her.

But it was real. She had made it so. The feeling of that kiss undeniable in its power. And she would go to War with the Gods of any realm to let their souls thrive in it.

Croix didn't say anything further, but she could feel herself smiling wondrously, unfettered by doubt.

"...I've always loved you so much, Croix…always, _always…"_

That beautiful voice, melodious like a perfect song made solely for her ears to appreciate. How gently relaxing it was, and sure enough it reminded her body that she hadn't slept for three days. With merciful rest quickly easing within, Croix allowed her head to dip against Chariot's shoulder; the sweet fragrance of her clothes adding to the peaceful calm.

Chariot hummed a soft, loving tune that drifted in tandem with the easy winds of that day. All those sounds mixed silent into the background until that girl's steady heartbeat was all Croix could reason to hear. Her own beat harmonised with Chariots until they were one and the same.

Sleep finally arrived, and not once did her joyful smile fade.

 _My Believing Heart…I found it at last…_

=][=

The sea of glittering stars that had just been spinning and swirling about them halted immediately, and without so much as any kind of transition, which was probably just as jarring, Chariot realised she was staring out through the full-moon window of her quarters in Luna Nova; the cosmos rearranged to where it should be.

Akko was there with her, looking off in the same direction, their hands still connected as they stood there for a full minute of coming to terms with the ludicrous nature of what they'd just experienced.

When they slowly turned away from the window to regard each other, it took only half a second for them to embrace, a fleeting fear-perhaps unwarranted-that if they hadn't the world would simply melt away again, separating them for all time.

But such a thing didn't occur. As they held each other, the familiar aura of that place, the howling winds outside, the subtle ticking of a clock on the far wall, the aroma of teas and well-worn books…all of it pointed to the reality that they'd made it back.

Eventually they parted the hug and managed to sit themselves on chairs beside the table against the wall. A small motion like that had been more difficult than normal considering their legs were still shaking somewhat from that 'interesting' experience. Even as they sat there in silence, staring at each other, it still took a few minutes to settle back down.

"...W-Would you like some t-"

"YES PLEASE!"

Akko had shouted that out so loudly Alcor squawked in irritation from the far corner of the room before fluttering out of sight through a little bird-hatch in the wall.

Chariot busied herself in preparing the cups, the simple-routine oddly doing wonders to further calm her frayed nerves. When she'd begun the task her hands still trembled, but by the time she'd settled the tea cups between them on the small table, she was almost back to normal. Save for the dizzying questions still swirling about in her thoughts; Where had Croix acquired such power to not only impossibly remove Wagandea's curse, but also the ability to control time with naught but some strange book? In a slight panic Chariot quickly glanced at her astronomical watch after yanking it from a pocket sidled under her belt, taking in its information and yet…part of her already knew what it would show; that she had returned to the late evening where her Dilemma had begun. Where her sadness had reigned on such a peak the woman had destroyed herself with drink. Absently regarding that, she noticed that bottle of Brettonian Azure sitting unopened on a nearby shelf. Chariot didn't need it any more.

With a deep sigh she settled the precious timepiece on the table, Akko's penetrating gaze following her every movement as she sipped her tea gingerly. The slight shifting of the girls' lips at the edge of the teacup…too slow and deliberate…

The nervous energy crackling like a warming flame in her heart. An emotion that surged stronger every tense instant she was alone with Atsuko Kagari. That atmosphere would soon rise to a unstoppable crescendo, and in an attempt to stop…no…slow it…she spoke up.

"Akko, we've gone back in time a few days." How ridiculous that sounded to actually say out loud. "Croix returned to us with much more than a cure for my curse it seems…just what kind of magic does she possess now? To just…magically 'fix' everything like that? I still can't believe this is really happening…"

"Mm…" Was the entirety of Akko's response. By the Nine did that girl have an incredible ability to take anything in stride. Chariot figured she'd ask her one thing after another about how they'd ended up there, but nothing! Then, Akko set her teacup aside, having gulped half of it down in one go, never once looking away. That already made Chariot nervous, but when Akko lifted herself from her chair and stepped towards her, gazing down at Chariot who couldn't help but shrink under the scrutiny of that impelled expression, a tangible hunger in those cherry-red eyes, a thirst on her lips…

"Back then-!" Akko stammered, a minute trembling along her taut shoulders. "Y-You said you'd be mine. All of you-"

Chariot gripped her teacup hovering near her parted lips so hard she was sure it would shatter. The rising heat in her soul burned hotter and hotter. She couldn't hide her rapid breaths…she cared not to even try.

" _Yes."_

"-then let me-" Akko stepped forward, grazing her legs over Chariot until she sat mounted atop her; the motion ruining what was left of the woman's composure, letting the teacup and saucer in her hands to fall from her limp, tingling fingers; clattering to the ground to which neither of them acknowledged. "-let me have you. All of you. Right now. Before I wake up from this _fantastic_ _dream_ …!"

Akko's eager mouth closed in suddenly, filling Chariot's vision with that girl's reddening features, eyes gleaming wild…but Chariot sunk backwards in her seat; a final lingering doubt she had to voice.

"Akko, won't anyone be looking for you? Y-Your friends they-"

"If this that night from back then, like you told me, Lotte and Sucy only came back in the morning." She said all that very quickly, airy gasps rattling between her words. "I fell asleep in the library…I was-I was alone too…"

Chariot regarded the girl's tense closeness, tasting her air, a queasy tickling lighting up the woman's body from Akko's weight atop her. She couldn't help but think of all the times they'd shared together throughout, how just simmering below the surface of that innocent smile, her unbelievably bright energy with no limit, her clumsiness, her bravery-a heedless Want had waited patiently. Until then. Akko wanted her. She always had…and how that excited Chariot so…

A last swish of Chariot's wand about the room extinguished the light and sealed the door, the quick motion tossing the item aside at the end of its arc. A blanket of midnight-azure darkness fell upon them, warmed by the white glow of the moon peeking out from heavy clouds as the sudden onset of heavy rainfall fell upon the scene, masking all sound under the steady thrum of falling water.

Akko took that as a cue, nervously roving her lips onto Chariot's as the storm intensified. The woman herself had already cupped her hands on the girl's burning neck, yanking her in to taste that connection with all her shaking will.

"Mhhmm…"

The girl wasted no time pushing her tongue through Chariot's nervous reluctance. Only for an instant did the shock of that take hold before the delicious euphoria guiding her entire form, quivering with delight as she simply let it all be.

Akko was forceful and excited, no rhythm or method to the way she twisted and tested deeper. Chariot felt that same primal urge guiding her motions, helpless to any restraint. She countered and weaved in that dewed, frantic exchange. The girl would shift one way, she was there to flow into it. Chariot's head pressed back onto the chair, she would relent and force Akko back, meeting in the centre of that amorous chaos, gliding her tingling hands beneath fabrics of clothing as she drunkenly caressed the bare, buzzing skin of Akko's legs and hips; a hot flush of heat building wherever her greedy touch moved.

There was something a little strange however; Akko was keeping her own hands gripped close to her chest, fists clenched so tight Chariot could see them shaking even in that subtle light. The woman saw that hesitation, and retreated from that frenzied kiss, though she did so gently, ignoring the tiny wet flim of moisture that stretched across their tongues before it fell away.

"A-Ahhh…~" Akko squeaked out in a short whine. "-Chariot I-I-"

"Tell me." She pressed, a little shocked how different her voice seemed. It sounded…deeper. Assured. Was it because she'd finally let go?

"Tell me what you wish, Akko."

The girl hyperventilated a little, chest rising up and down in tiny fractions with her hands still clutched tight to herself. In that strange, ethereal moment, Chariot already knew what that Akko wanted. All she had to do was-

"I want to see you." She whispered so quickly in a single breath. "I've…fantasised what you would look like. Can-would y-you-if that's alright…!"

Chariot was already prepared. The exploding storm in her soul rushing much like the one surging outside. She'd reached her crescendo, and there was no stopping it. Her hammering heart wouldn't be able to take it.

Easing Akko back to sit on her respective chair, Chariot glided over to the side of the room, letting the lone lancing beam of moonlight nearby to reveal her in its ghostly luminescence. Then, turning back to face the girl, who literally sat at the very edge of her seat, Chariot begun her task.

No magic was used. She simply slid out of her robes, letting piece after piece of her attire fall away; each one rising the tempo of her heart, yet audaciously strengthening her will in the heat of her growing desire. Akko stared all the while, seemingly breathless looking about ready to leap from her seat right towards Chariot. And she would let her do so if that happened.

Chariot's body was still, but the trembling excitement prickled just beneath her skin, nearly overwhelming her as she glided the last set of subtle lace from her form and stood naked before the girl.

Akko stood abruptly, knocking her chair over before striding over in a trance. Chariot almost fainted right there and then, but relented… _ready._ She was ready.

"Turn around…"

A command. The tone Akko had used sent a wondrous chill flushing across Chariot's neck. With no further hesitation she did so, facing the moonlit window. Even over the din of that storm the shuffling noise of Akko's clothes falling away may as well have been magnified a million-fold. Bare feet creaking against the wooden panelling…Chariot had to clamp a hand over her mouth to hold in a fevered whimper.

But the pleasure, that sensation when Akko embraced Chariot, pressing her heated body flush against her own, kissing the canal of her back, hands stroking, caressing, exploring every contour of her shape. Each motion playing out so gently yet so fervent, the woman couldn't hold her warbling voice in any longer.

" _Ohhh…haah…_ _ **haaaah…!**_ "

She felt so beautiful. Soaring high. Melting and melting away beneath Akko's touch. Impossibly that euphoria only magnified when the girl pulled her about to seal another kiss, deeper than before, the pleasure cascading as the two of them allowed the other to reach and touch with unbound whim. A most unrefined wail of sorts escaped out of Chariot when the girl messily parted their kiss, only to cup her lips ravenously around the quivering point of her breast, with the other being wrapped and groped in rhythmic, lustful circles, each tiny motion shattering whatever flimsy barriers of doubt remained.

Let that moment last forever, she pleaded to everyone and no one. Chariot could only stare at the darkening black of the ceiling, arcing her back further and further with the monumental pleasure, utterly bewitched _. Forever._

She hadn't known. What such a thing felt like. To truly be with someone with naught but the desire for pleasure driving them forward. What freedom. What love! It was so-!

Somehow, when Chariot fell with Akko never halting her 'task', the woman's bed was there to cushion her back, pressing them closer together so fluidly, impelled by physical desire.

The storm outside strengthened, muting the howls and yells from both of them. Rain pelted the window from all directions, driven by the force of winds blowing in from every direction. The moon that had illuminated them was eventually masked by the heavy clouds growing over its gleam until the last light of that day gave way to the true dark of night.

It seemed hours had passed in that glaze of euphoric passion; leaving Akko laying tranquil and spent on her back in Chariot's bed, the woman herself coiled lovingly and protective around the girls' body; their bare skin slick with sweat, fused together like one.

Akko had fallen asleep, clearly exhausted. A very light snore whistling from her nose, a bright, almost comical smile gleefully painted on her lips.

Chariot stared at her, playing with Akko's messy bangs of hair, shifting a few strands pasted on her forehead from sweat, but careful not to disturb her sleep. She'd never witnessed someone in such a deep rest. The kind not even the strongest potions or spells meant to induce it could ever hope to replicate.

She wondered where that voice had gone. Her own voice. The one that constantly berated her, cursing her with failure, with fear. She didn't hear a word of it at all. Instead, her inner self could only sing a beautiful melody, a mantra created whole after giving the person she loved, and whom loved her, the very essence of her heart and soul.

No matter where they headed on that dangerous path, Chariot would find the strength to be her light always. Even if they were caught again, she wanted to whisk her away, to fly out into the world and go wherever Akko pleased. Do anything she wanted.

One more minute to take in that gorgeous sight of her sleeping face, and Chariot would return the girl back to her own bed. A hint of magic would mask them both, no one that night would learn their secret.

Lying there, almost breathless from the sheer energy siphoned from that period of lust, she wondered if Akko was in the midst of a pleasant dream, and dearly hoped she was a part of them. Of course, Akko had confessed such a thing had occurred numerous times, but still Chariot greedily wished it so. Would she still hear her words in that state? Just as Chariot had heeded Akko's?

How she'd saved Chariot by doing such a simple thing? And choosing to remain by her side when no one else was there?

" _Akko, I love and adore you. Thank you. Thank you so much for choosing me. I'll never be afraid again."_

A tiny stir and Akko's head turned towards Chariot, nuzzling their noses together. She was still fast asleep. The snoring stopped, the noise hushed away to gentle, murmuring breaths.

Akko's radiant smile grew wider.

Chariot almost broke down in tears, but fought them off with a curt bite of her lower lip. She didn't want to wake her.

What a treasure that girl was. And when the minute was up, Chariot simply gave herself another.

How selfish Chariot turned out to be, she mused. How risky and irresponsible. Reckless and wrong and sinful.

That beautiful dilemma. Her entire universe.

Chariot would see it through however long such a thing could last.

Akko deserved everything good in existence, and so it was the woman's wish to gift it all to her.

Everything would be fine. Everything.

Chariot had never been alone after all.

=][=


	9. Human, After All

_Queens' Note: Hi there everyone. It's been a strange year for us all, hasn't it? Sometimes it's good to switch off from the constant stream of worrying news and focus on the good things we have. Remember to cherish those close to you, and to make sure they know they're loved. I think we all need more of that in our lives. For a hopeful future._

 _Anyways~ sorry for getting sentimental there. I wrote another chapter for this one! Yeah! I'd initially meant for it to be a lot shorter but I guess it spiralled out of control. I don't think it's all that great, the structure of the whole story is a bit messy, and there's several things I should've changed in hindsight, but it was still a lot of fun to write, and quite challenging too. The best part of it all was reading your reviews, even those highly critical. It's a great pleasure to hear feedback for my writing; it makes me feel a bit more…real? Like I exist a bit more than I did before…I dunno :P All I know it makes me happy, to entertain everyone and offer a little escapism._

 _The Witch Academia fandom is winding down, but I'll hold the show and the lovely community that came from it close to my heart. If the Dark Gods will it and they make a new season or OVA or whatever I'll gladly dive straight back in. Heck, if I ever make it big I'll fund it all myself! A Believing Heart, right?_

 _Now for some replies!_

 _taezjah420: Yes some more fics with this pairing would be nice to see. Just a little variety no? Thanks for reading. Yuri is life!_

 _Oscar: Thanks for all the feedback I hope this extra bit to this one will hold you over. Cheers for sticking around and reviewing my chapters. Maybe I can write an M fic to really test my mettle. Would there be interest for that?_

 _MagitekKnight: Thank you so much for all your defined reviews. Yes, the creative process can be a tricky one and its very hard to tell when I'm writing if it's even gonna make sense in the end. Plot holes and out of character moments haunt me sometimes. I'm not a confident person, so your genuine feedback, praise, and critique really helps to keep my enthusiasm going. Please consider this extra chapter as thanks for your time and attention :)_

 _Your Intelligence: A master you say..? Wow, thank you so so much. I don't know if I can see myself at the level of your wonderful praise, but it does make me feel happy and great to be around. I'll always very much appreciate your continued support, Kai. And I know one day when my skills reach a peak I'll create something that you might love to read._

 _Guest: Yes, in essence Croix created a new timeline with her magic shenanigans that would run parallel with the current one. I kinda hoped to do something a little different to that, maybe more 'out there' and what not, y'know more challenging and interesting. Ah well, I'll live and learn, and come up with a better one next time. Peace!_

 _Tamerlan110: Thank you! You're wonderful! And awesome! Take care, from the Land Down Under._

 _BLINIX: That cliffhanger was a difficult one to write. And I don't think the payoff later really matched it. But you might have caught me out lol. Croix is like a Get out of Jail free card, in a way. Perfect for a writer like me :P_

 _Carameleo: Cheers for your previous reviews friend. And you're right that the setting in that chapter with Croix and the Sorcerer didn't quite mesh with the rest of the tone, so I kept it (somewhat) brief. And for the overall plot, maybe I should've gone with a "Banishment" ending, to be a little more risky I think, but I tend to weave away from unhappy endings, sometimes to no benefit to the actual story. I'd love to hear what you think of the last chapters, and any criticism would be welcome._

 _Ok, here's the actual last bit of this story. I'll do better next time, but I hope you all have fun as I learn. Now if I could just finish Harem, anyone still keen to read that one?_

 _With Love,_

 _E_

 **The Dilemma of Chariot Du Nord**

 _Epilogue_

" _Human, after all."_

Diana was conscious of something amiss in the air when she woke that morning; a pressing, strong emotion giving her great pause as she sat up from her bed, looking out over the dewed and soaking grounds of Luna Nova after the storm in the night with reigned anxiousness heavy on her mind.

It felt as if…she had lost a day? Had she forgotten what occurred yesterday? And why on Earth was she already crying silent, at the mere idea that something could've been lost to memory?

She sighed deep, dashing away a few escaped tears discreetly before busying herself in preparation for that days' many duties. But all the while her odd concern still nestled superior at the front of her mind, refusing to box itself away like all her other countless worries.

Diana needed to pinpoint it. Simply leaving it be to distract herself throughout the day was not only unbecoming, but highly inefficient for someone with as many responsibilities like herself.

 _Think, Diana. Where is this weight in my mind coming from? Did you dream again?_

A dream, now that she'd asked herself, seemed the most likely. Why else would her memory be so scattered, feeling as if an important detail had been forgotten…or was it taken away?

What had she lost in that dream?

A gentle crest of wind passed by the lands already swept by rains. Diana had moved herself over to stand right by the window after getting properly dressed, compelled to figure out her gnawing trouble before moving from that spot or doing anything else. Normally the peaceful sight of Luna Nova's sprawling grounds would calm her, but that acute tension building within herself didn't subside that time.

Why was she so consumed by it? Her left hand, formerly palmed on the glass curled into a fist, then open again, this time with Diana's weight slouching on it, pressing onto the window as her legs almost went out from under her.

How irritating it was, that helpless feeling. When something she loved moved away until it was gone…

Diana leaned off the window, standing firm when she first noticed her reflection still visible in the glass, the pale dawn outside dark enough to make it visible.

Her stunned expression revealed a buried truth. She'd thought of losing a loved one. Without any other prompt to do so. The sudden spike in her heart reinforcing Diana's revelation.

Dream or not, she was sure that's what had happened.

Diana had lost something dear. No, not just _something._ A person whom she loved.

That was it but…why had such a thing occurred to her right then? Why was her resolve so shaken until she could figure it out?

Whom she loved…well, Diana wasn't in the mood to lie and delude herself about that subject any longer. That had been it's own journey since the days of that dreaded Missile Incident.

Diana was deeply, helplessly in love with Atsuko Kagari. That much she was willing to admit, after copious amounts of denial of course. It still didn't make any shred of sense, but there that unmistakeable feeling sat perched in her heart all the same. Not just that love…Diana acknowledged another powerful want. She wanted to-

"Diana, you about ready?" Barbara's eager face suddenly popped out from behind Diana's bookcase, startling her but just barely below the threshold of showing it. Really, she shouldn't have been so spooked, having heard Barbara and Hannah both readying themselves for morning lessons nearby all the time. Diana had just been so spaced out she'd failed to properly acknowledge them.

"I'm ready, more or less. Thank you, Barbara." Diana feigned her calm response well, as did her mask of polite indifference. Hiding her emotions was almost second nature by that point. Her friends needn't worry about the details of her baffling fantasies of love.

She offered a cursory glance and nod to further put Barbara at a comfortable distance, but it was no small shock to her composure with the cautiously concerned look Barbara was returning her way. The girl, over time, had become very adept in reading into Diana's complicated emotions, just as she was peering right through the blonde's nonchalance for the farce it was.

"Your eyes, they're…they're all puffy and red. You've been crying?" Barbara pointed out the damning fact, to which Diana was stunned momentarily, cursing having missed out on such an embarrassing thing. Barbara pressed further, but carefully with her tone of voice lowered. "Anything on your mind? You can talk to us."

"Talk? What's all this?" Hannah slid into view from behind Barbara and took a quick glance at Diana. "Oh…" A slight slump in her frame, now sharing a similar look of concern like her friend as she stood beside her. "…you having another tough time, Diana? We can help you with anything you need."

Diana sighed with resignation, a little baffled just how perceptive her friends could be. Perhaps they'd known her long enough to see through her daily facades. But what was she to say to them? The truth? They already had an idea that Diana had feelings for that beautiful, ridiculous Japanese girl. But should she really be up front about just how much those emotions were ready to burst from the cage around her heart?

"Wow, Diana can't talk. I've never seen that before. Barb, do you think she's-?"

"Think so, Hannah. Think so."

Diana's lack of reply left her friends to pick up within the awkward quiet. What were they talking about? Before Diana could scavenge anything to speak herself, they directed their chatter to her directly, putting the girl on the spot.

"One day you'll have to do it, y'know? You can't just bottle it away until it makes you cry. I hate seeing what it does to you."

"Barb's totally right. This has been happening more and more lately. We see how often you stare at her, Diana. Sometimes we can't even get through to you."

"Talk to us, tell us how you feel, please?"

"Please, Diana…"

Diana reeled back, astonished and embarrassed at their keen insight, a previous chill on her neck snapping to a heated blush in an instant. Perhaps then, she truly hadn't hid her feelings anywhere near as succinctly as she'd hoped. And normally, Hannah and Barbara had the presence of mind to not pry into Diana's affairs of love. Until then, she supposed, although deep down part of her was screaming to talk to someone about such things. She was sick of crying on top of all of it. The weight of carrying it alone was crushing her spirit.

"My apologies, girls. I just…don't know what to do with myself. I can't help how I feel about-about her. That insufferable Akko. And am so afraid of what it might do if she hears me say those words…"

 _But not just that…_

Her friends shared a brief, concerned glance then moved over to Diana, guiding her suddenly weak feet over to her bed where they all sat down, facing the window. The two waited patiently for Diana to continue.

"Suddenly I feel as if I've lost something important, and I can't get it back. But I haven't even confessed. I'm sure I haven't. I don't know how she really feels about me at all…and it troubles me to tears I can't control, no matter how hard I try."

 _Yes, I cried. But then I started to fantasise about you._

"That girl's got some grip on you, Diana. I mean, I know you like her, but never thought she'd make you cry like this. But it's real, right? You really do care a lot for Akko." Hannah chimed in, offering a reassuring smile. "So really, what's the worst that can happen from telling that hyperactive klutz how you feel?"

"She's right, Diana. You'll feel a lot better if you do. If only just to let it go. Tell Akko that you really like-no love her-and I bet you no matter what happens, everyone will still be friends by the end of it."

They made it sound so uncomplicated, Diana mused darkly, but allowed her more positive nature to glow through, strengthened by the gratitude she felt for the friends who'd only grown closer and more precious to her over time. Somehow, that impossible dream of confessing to Atsuko Kagari, of all people, didn't seem so unattainable. Such was the power of having trusted friends always by her side.

She wouldn't do it right away, but it would be soon. That at the very least, Diana could ease the burden of worry from Hannah and Barbara. And herself too.

"Perhaps it is time." Diana started, finding some humour in the way the two emitted high-pitched gasps at the same time. "You two are correct; I can't let this drag me down. There's far too much work to still be done, and I've truly grown weary of these troublesome emotions distracting me from the course of my own life."

"Wow, you're really going to do it!" Hanna chirped giddily, bouncing a little on Diana's bed. Barbara too seemed overly-excited and could hardly sit still.

"We'll help you any way we can! Just say the word and it's done. Even if we have to break the rules!"

"Yeah, no problem, Diana."

She was taken aback from the sudden, sheer excitement from her friends for something Diana thought would be mundane to anyone else but herself. But it was a good sensation, to actually open up about how she felt; gifting her an odd strength and confidence, the kind that only surfaced in the company of good people. That thought alone chased her sadness away.

"Barbara, Hannah…" She faced them both in turn, their kind smiles reflecting her own. "Thank you for everything."

Diana would confess. She just needed a little more time.

But there was one thing during that nervous exchange with her friends that Diana had managed to hide away from their prying concern.

They knew she had romantic feelings for Akko. However, they had no clue of the rising heat of pure physical attraction that had burned beneath Diana's skin whenever that girl had been remotely close.

Diana would not lie to herself. The vivid thoughts, her desires, mingled with her innocent love, transforming it to the almost uncontrollable urge she'd been struggling with the past fortnight.

Only with the bravery of finally deciding to confess did Diana allow herself to admit that she wanted Akko completely. Unbecoming thoughts involving that girl were already consuming her troubled train of thinking, even as her friends idly chatted back and forth from both sides, utterly unaware that Diana's intentions weren't so pure after all.

Yet she felt no shame to be feeling such desire. How her soul screamed to connect mind and body with Akko.

No fear. No hesitation. Whatever happened, as a Cavendish, she wouldn't give in. Even if Akko didn't feel the same way at all, Diana would make it her mission to change that completely. Perhaps it would lead to ruin, but it would lead _somewhere._ Sitting idly by was impossible.

 _Atsuko Kagari, it's my turn to chase after you…_

 _...whether you're ready or not._

=][=

"Chariot, are you there? Don't worry, I'm not reading your mind. Just a little astral communication, so only you can hear me. You Ok to talk?"

Two weeks had passed since that night with Akko during the storm, and on a similarly greying afternoon of rain, Croix came into contact with Chariot once again, startling the jumpy woman from her lonesome task of grading essay after essay piled on the already cluttered desk of her quarters.

"Croix!" Chariot yelled out joyfully, shooting up to her feet with such speed a contrail of air kicked up and sent her scattered workload spiralling messily about the place. "You're still-oh, I'm so happy to hear your voice. After what happened I didn't know whether you'd be thinking of me, or-or if you had gotten upset with how I handled things and…oh Croix it really is…how am I going to-"

"Chariot, hey. You're babbling."

"Oh! I'm-I'm sorry…"

A short, calm laugh rung in Chariot's ears.

"You know I love your babbling. That's never going to change. I wanted to check on you. See how everything is turning out after our initial reunion. Well, that wasn't much of a 'reunion' really-"

"Yes, I don't know what I'd call that either."

"Exactly. So, here I am. Ask me anything you want, Chariot."

What to ask? She could barely form a cohesive question from the growing list in her thoughts, and unable to think on her feet, Chariot asked whatever first came to mind.

"Where did you go, Croix?"

"Some place peaceful. I know you'd love it as much as I do."

"Will you return to Luna Nova in the future? You did come back but…now you're away from me again."

"I'll come back to visit. Just not yet. I need some time, and when I do I'll explain why I had to leave. It's complicated, Chariot. As I'm sure you'd understand, considering you're, well, interesting relationship."

"Y-Yes, _that…_ " A rising flush in her chest, eager to spread across her cooled skin. Quickly, she diverted the conversation. That subject, and that subject alone would remain between Akko and herself. Chariot wasn't ready to share details with anyone, not even a dear friend.

Was that selfish? She knew it was. But Chariot had changed enough to dare it. Her sheepish humility had done nothing to make her happy in the past after all.

"Your magic, I've never seen or read about anything like that. You rearranged the cosmos, you pulled back time! Where on Earth did you get such a power?!"

"Not Earth. Another realm entirely, a place where the ether for spells flows so thickly it makes our own look minuscule in comparison, even during the golden age of our kind. The relic I took from there, my Tome Zero, was never meant for use in a world like ours. It's magic can work and flow unhindered here, becoming capable of so much more than it was intended. I know it was reckless and ill-conceived to have done what I did without thinking it through, but in all honesty…I wasn't thinking. I just went with what I felt was right. Just like you did, no? And besides, having such power, would you have sat back and left it all to fate?"

Chariot pondered that quietly, taking the silent moment to walk away from her desk and wander about her room, absently studying the various silver and gold instruments lining her shelves. How many things had she broken during that intoxicated episode? Now they were all pristine, the whole ordeal reversed to appear to have never happened. But Chariot wasn't the same, and neither was Akko…and especially Croix.

Time Travel? No concern of hers. Chariot was who she was. And she was Happy. In Love.

"No. If I'd had the ability to do so, I would've changed it all."

Croix hummed a noise, like she'd just spotted something very interesting under her nose.

"The old you would've never said that. You don't know how happy that makes me, Chariot. It means you've learned to forgive yourself."

Just as Croix said that, Chariot halted in place from her wandering, stopped directly in front of that framed photo on a shelf of the two of them smiling beside each other; a portrait of much simpler times.

"Maybe, I'm not sure…" She murmured, carefully picking the frame from where it sat and holding it close, a gentle swirl of happiness from within at noting the easy, unabashed smiles from her past. "But I do feel different. Even knowing I'm doing wrong, I can still move myself forward. I understand how to make myself happy again."

"That's good." A relieved sigh from her friend. "That's _good."_

They spoke deep into that afternoon, eventually filling the rest of the coming night with their enthused chatter, regaling and remembering details both tiny and massive, but always perking up their cheer on whatever subject brought forth. It wasn't long before Chariot was howling with laughter after Croix perfectly retold a prank they'd both participated in which had involved a copious amount of fireworks, colour-modifying magic, and about half the academies' faculty gunning for them shortly after.

"You kept saying, 'I'll be able to control it.' But maybe I knew you wouldn't, that's why it was funny when it actually happened. I can't believe we tried to do all that indoors. It's a miracle we didn't set the school on fire on that day."

"We were so reckless…" Chariot smiled happily, now lying on her back on the bed, riding comfortable on the steady flow of nostalgia. "I completely forgot we did all that until you reminded me. You've always had a much better memory than me, Croix. I wonder what other wonderful memories have slipped from my thoughts?"

"Plenty, I bet. Now that you can acknowledge all the good in your life. And now you've got the chance to create a happier future as well. One I will not meddle in further, by your request-"

"Thank you for understanding."

"-but should you ever find yourself in any kind of danger, you call me alright? Just yell out my name and I'll be there before you finish saying it. Think of me as a Guardian Angel Witch, with her own self-interests in mind."

The silly title tickled another laugh out of Chariot, which Croix echoed merrily. After a few more spry jokes and chatter, their time together winded down, as did Chariot's already exhausted frame from the duties of that day. As wonderful as it was to speak to her friend, she had to get some much-needed rest. The woman still had a class to teach in the morning.

"Croix, thanks again for everything you've done for me. Returning my flying magic, saving Akko and myself from my self-righteous ego, for not forgetting about me…I owe you so much…"

"Don't worry about it, Chariot. Just worry about your happiness. And hers. I'll be right here, much closer than you think. Now have your rest, I can tell just from your voice how much you need it."

"Right." She blinked once, the exhaustion barely letting her eyes open again as Chariot sunk into the clean sheets, sighing pleasantly all the while, and far too tired to bother changing out of her teaching attire or even turning off the lights. Day after day of working far harder than normal to distract herself from certain thoughts had paid off, she figured ruefully. "It really was great to talk to you again. I know I repeat myself but…thank you. Thank you."

Chariot could feel Croix's smile in the woman's reply, picturing it vividly in her mind. That image glowed close to her heart, relaxing her deeply.

"...No problem."

Chariot was already asleep, yet somehow lucid enough to function on some basic level. Her friend said something else after those words, but she'd slipped into slumber too deeply to truly understand by then.

"Chariot, I should've-"

A long pause, mired in palpable hesitation. The comfortable warmth of her bed like a gentle vice, never to let go. She was so tired…

" _...Good night…and…"_

=][=

Akko had always been a cheerful girl, meeting whatever came her way with reckless energy and a positive smile. But the shining happiness she'd felt the last few days was on a dizzying level, granting her even more ridiculous confidence in herself along with a big helping of extra vigour to go with it.

Her grades in the short time since her new burst of joy had begun had actually improved! Times when she'd have to force herself to pay attention now had her undivided focus and enthusiasm to learn every little detail, all the while thankful that she had the opportunity to simply be there. Akko would smile and laugh more often, eager to help everyone who needed it, and her peers quickly responded with their own happy grins in her presence.

It all just came to her easily then. Just…living. Learning. Being gracious for the wonderful people in her life. A few times when she'd been alone, the preciousness of her time there hit her heavy, nearly quaking in tears despite herself. She was just so content with how things were. Whether they were wrong, or unfair, or whatever!

And Akko had Chariot. No one else! That fact alone drew a relieved smirk to curb her reservations about it all. Her beautiful obsession, a walking dream that she could hold and kiss and love at will. It was her impossible secret, which only made it more exciting. Even then the wave of joy that made her steps weightless as light carried her thoughts to coy daydreams.

Nope! Not the time for that. She had to focus on why her two left feet and giddy balance was treacherously guiding Akko over to the library so late in the day; every corner and staircase she shakily navigated on the way growing a prickling worry itching her back.

Diana had asked to see her alone. A little note passed to her casually at lunch, with the girl bowing like a regal empress and everything before she'd left without another word. She probably thought that had looked subtle, but everyone there had started to giggle and chatter amongst themselves as they'd stared Akko's way. But she forced herself to ignore them all. None of their business! They didn't understand what was happening at all!

But then again, neither did she…

" _Akko, please see me alone in the library after 6 o'clock. Inside the Magical History section. It's very important I speak with you."_

Diana…Akko had thought a lot about her, that incident in the rain…her friends' teary confession.

How Diana had lied. Maybe Akko had been in denial, that her and Chariots affair had been found out by something else she'd completely missed. But the more Akko pondered the details, the more it all pointed to the simple fact that no one else had known at the time who had reason to want to see it end.

But then…all that weird stuff happened. Taking with it Diana's confession, and her-

Betrayal? That seemed a strong word to use. Akko understood why Diana would've talked, she'd broken her heart after all. Not to mention what member of a student faculty would be expected to hold such a forbidden secret? Akko usually broke rules but that situation was on a completely different level to just skipping out on class.

As nervous as it made her, Akko had been expecting all of it. Even for someone as easily distracted as herself, she'd picked up on Diana's careful movements when the two had been anywhere close the last few weeks. Smiles were kinder, words spoken sweeter, tiny flutters of emotion showing openly in the astonishing gem-blue of those eyes.

Diana Cavendish no longer wanted to hide her affection. And in wanting to meet Akko in a place both knew would be secluded and quiet during that period of the day, there was no doubt left that the blonde Witch wanted to speak straight from the heart.

To confess to Akko. Though she had technically done so once before, Akko felt that event had been too forced and emotional, with everyone involved riding reckless on sudden, painful feelings.

Meeting Diana alone, even knowing what was to happen, Akko wasn't prepared at all. She couldn't scramble together what it was she truly felt, or what would happen when her friend said those words and stared at Akko with that beautiful, open expression of grace.

Would Akko be upset? Would she just fall flat on her face after fainting? Would she feel…nothing?

Worrying so much about it all, Akko nearly stopped breathing when she realised her time to mull it all over was at an end. Her shaking feet had managed to scrape the rest of her petrified body into the jaws of Luna Nova's library. And of course the girl saw absolutely no one around, but with the heavy air beckoning from a few shelves down over in the corner. Magical History. One of Akko's favourite places, considering how many times she used that spot to sleep and scarf down extra snacks in near-total privacy.

It was a good spot. Diana knew her well. And she was most definitely waiting to meet her there. The place was so quiet, even the wind outside winded down to nothing, that Akko could softy hear-or was it feel-that Diana was there.

She gulped dryly and moved forward. Soon the scent of drab books and wood gave way to a familiar fragrance; one that seemed like an expensive and rare perfume but Akko knew to be completely natural.

It was Diana. She sat at a tiny desk for two with an empty chair opposite; the spot situated between the walls of towering knowledge at every side, its seclusion chasing away any proper light due to the lack of nearby windows, and only a single lamp adding a dim yet still warm glow from the yawning ceiling far above. She jolted when Akko walked into view, fixing a bemused gape at the girl until a slight cough recomposed the expression to a gentle, welcoming smile that oddly beckoned in such a way Akko couldn't recall in that anxious moment.

"Akko. You're here. Please, sit if you wish. I promise I will not dawdle in what I have to say. Will you hear me out?"

Even if Akko had been burning to do so, she couldn't refuse such an overly polite greeting, and felt compelled to close the distance quickly, the fluttering nervousness turning her knees to wobbling jelly at the sight of that girl. Akko needed to sit down before she fell over again.

"H-Hey! Hi, Diana. You bet I'll sit down. I'm very grateful that you'd let me-!" Too late she realised how stupid that sounded out loud, and to make matters worse she plopped down on the empty chair with excessive force and nearly spilled out of it a second after being seated. Though she righted her balance quickly and started to sit rigidly, Akko secretly wished she had just fallen over and hit her head on something. Anything to get out of that situation. It wasn't that she disliked Diana or anything like that! It just felt like Akko's rampant emotions were dancing clearly around her, almost mocking in how blatant she believed them to be; that Diana could read all her secrets without fail.

Just as her embarrassment reached an uncontrollable peak, Akko was promptly distracted by the sight of Diana laughing openly, leaning back in her own chair slightly as the heiress clutched her abdomen with each jubilant cry. Akko gaped at the bizarre, unexpected sight, and her mounting nervousness melted away to nothing at seeing how laid back Diana of all people was in that awkward meeting.

"Oh ho! My, same old Akko! You almost toppled over. Apologies for laughing like that, I feel awful-" Though she still giggled throughout the reply, and to be fair Akko was trying hard not to laugh herself. "-are you alright?"

"Yeah, should be Ok. Wouldn't be the first time I fell out of a chair this week. Sorry, when I get nervous I tend to move a lot quicker than normal…"

"No apology necessary. And thank you for taking the time to see me."

Akko gulped, praying Diana hadn't seen that. Now that they were both seated facing each other, there really was nothing else around to serve as proper distraction. That meant Diana was expectantly staring at her from very close, slowly blinking wistfully and never looking away; her enviously perfect visage cutely blossomed in a light pink from the earnest laugh that still played along her happy smile.

Diana never looked at anyone like that. Except for her. Was that girl really going to-Akko needed to hear it. She needed to breathe, as did Diana. Though Akko still had no idea what her answer was supposed to be…

"Sure, it's my pleasure! So…y-you wanted to tell me something…?"

"Yes." Diana's entrancing face inched closer when the girl leant forward in her chair, the slight creak in the floorboards from the slight movement seeming obnoxiously loud in Akko's burning ears. "It's very important. I needed to tell you how I feel."

' _Oh nooo…'_ Akko pleaded in her mind. It was just so insane! Diana was really going to do it! And she couldn't look away; her friends' expression was so vivid with noble charm it felt angelic. A mystical magnet pulling Akko forward. Despite every shred of her better judgement, certain coiling thoughts snapped to the forefront, playing vibrant memories of Chariot's beckoning shape haloed against the moonlight. She couldn't stop herself. That sweet fragrance from Diana sitting so close spun her nerve end over end.

Akko had changed since that secret night. She understood, however little in the grand scheme, what it was she desired. And there Diana was, trying to tempt her. And…and it was like Diana was aware she was doing it too!

" _Akko~_ " Diana actually sat up a little, leaning even closer and then staring down at Akko who shrunk quivering in her seat. A brief flash of energy crossed the blonde Witches' increasingly curious expression; seeming excited and scared at the same time.

Akko was starting to panic. A possible confession had worried her enough already, but she wasn't ready for what was taking place. She wanted to run away. Run to Chariot, but wouldn't forgive herself for doing that. But Diana was…what could Akko do?

"I want you to know that I think about you more than any one else…"

She was standing then with her palms on the table to hold her up, looming over Akko at an angle that blocked the lone source of light far above; showing her earnest face clearly, the wild blush so bright it looked gorgeous in contrast with the paleness of her skin. Diana's words speckled on, though her lips shook uncontrollably as she did so.

"I can't explain why this feeling has consumed my will so, only that it does and I'm simply done fighting against it. My status. My 'Pride.' I care not for these triflings. Nor how baffling the idea of loving someone so starkly different to myself…"

Diana had said it. Akko felt so anxious and queasy, unable to speak. What did her own face look like then? Akko couldn't even tell she was so nervous.

"But it is the whole truth. I am compelled to be in love with you, Atsuko Kagari. Not just as my dear friend. I love who you are. Your energy. Your smile. The way you've changed not just my life, but that of everyone in this school, and probably the whole world. You've become so very special to me that the very courage that inspired me to admit all this was a gift of your own example."

Diana shifted closer, but this time lifting a knee to press on the desk, climbing atop of it in one silken move until she was on all fours. Still she stared fervently but now with an odd tilt of her head that accentuated the glinting blue of those orbs that peeked out mesmerising from the cascade of falling frost-blonde hair.

Something about the way Diana was purposefully arcing over, the slight angle of her shoulders, the soft breathless gap parted between her smiling lips. That fragrance…why was it so ridiculously strong then?

"I'm not afraid of how I look right now. I care not for the shame of what I'm doing…" Her voice had changed, sounding weirdly energetic all of a sudden, as if she was out of breath.

"I just want You."

Akko squeaked out a weird noise, like a high-pitched shout without the air to give it proper volume. She was so embarrassed and put on the spot it was a miracle the chair she was in hadn't toppled backwards with how hard she was leaning into it. Diana had paused her advance, waiting for Akko to respond, but she had no answer at all in that situation. It was so forceful, so out of character for her friend to act like that. Akko could only scramble with questions while her voice started to work again.

"D-Diana…I…I-I well this is a lot…" She only sputtered weakly at first, but when she focused on a lingering memory of Chariot's bright smile, her words evened out. "What's gotten into you? I've never seen you be like this. Not even when that Bee stung you. Why are you so different?"

Akko had hoped to divert Diana's enthusiasm with her questions, but not a hint of it faded when the girl challenged back with a quick answer.

"Why? Because I felt the change in you, Akko."

Akko's breath halted in her throat, prompting a very obvious gulp to clear it. That perceptive gleam in Diana's eyes…there was no way she'd found out again, had she? No, what was Diana getting at?

"I don't know what's caused it, but the way you've been carrying yourself lately has entranced me. You seem even more confident than usual. As if the dream you've always been chasing already rests in your heart. There's a new…" Diana let out a pleasant sigh that ended with a smirk. "Maturity about you. Not just your extra height, but the way you speak, the manner of your walk…even your scent. All of it feels different. All of it-drives me ever closer to you."

There was no way that was real. Akko had to have been dreaming.

"That's why I'm being so forward. To show just how serious I am about being yours."

Diana's hands moved to Akko's burning face, cupping both sides as the blonde Witch slid off the desk and effectively stood over Akko, leaving the girl somewhat trapped between the bridge of Diana's legs. The shock made it almost impossible to move, but it was when Diana seemed to lower herself to slot on top of Akko's lap that she was finally able to regain herself before her mind literally snapped.

"WAIT! JUST-" Akko quickly snatched her hands outwards without thinking, vainly trying to push Diana away with a strength that refused to come to her. She'd clutched onto Diana's hips by some rotten luck, but grimly fought off the impure urge to pull them towards her. Instead she pushed away.

Akko skidded backwards loudly on the chair, managing to escape the close proximity of Diana by her own will, leaving her friend standing idly by as Akko sat there nervously at the slight distance she'd created. When she focused on Diana's expression, Akko's nervousness, and even a little bit of fear, only grew with every beat of her heart.

Diana was still smiling, not looking the least bit upset. She sat back on the desk with a bit of chiding flair; crossing her legs coyly and resting lazily on her shoulders. The air about her was far too different from what Akko was used to, and that confusion blurted out with her next words.

"Diana, this isn't like you at all! Why are you…? J-just give me sec, ok? I don't get what's happening…"

Diana sat up from the desk, the slight movement causing an involuntary tremble across Akko's knees as the rest of her body tensed sharply; all of it blatant enough for the girl to see.

"You're…" The blonde Witch started, the scary fervent look she'd been wearing melting away quickly to concern. She blinked those sparkling eyes hard, and when they reopened a shade of Diana's familiar restraint set in. "You're afraid…I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I apologise."

She sat back on the desk, but now her body language was completely different; head bowed slightly as she clasped her hands together on her lap.

"I-I…" Diana's hands visibly clenched tighter, a slight pain bridged across her pale lips. "I've gone about this the wrong way, haven't I?"

Akko had to say something. With every passing second she could see a little piece of that strange, wonderful girl fall apart. She wanted to tell Diana that her advance had been far too forward, but without even meaning to Akko realised that pressure mirrored her own. Specifically, the way she'd forced her desire with Chariot until the culmination on that windy, moonlit night. In that flash of recollection Akko understood what Diana was doing, what she was feeling. Her own latent emotions had been simmering hot under the surface, until they burst and took the helm.

"Diana, I'm just a bit startled. I didn't know-" That was a lie, she did. "-you felt like this about me. Maybe I have changed a little but, not the same way you have. This is just too much, too quickly."

"I see." She said quietly, closing her eyes. "Then I take it, your feelings for me are not mutual then?"

 _Just tell her. There's someone else. You're in love with someone else!_

For a moment saying that aloud seemed impossible, but then she remembered the warmness of Chariot's strong embrace, that shaking, timid smile that broke and reshaped her heart a thousand times over…

"Diana…I'm-I'm…" She had to say it! Diana was a terrific person, but she'd betrayed her trust once, perhaps justifiably so. But even so! Even so!

"Akko."

One word and all that momentum was derailed. She was a little shocked to see Diana didn't appear to be all that upset.

"You've been seeing someone, haven't you?"

Akko twitched, letting out a baffling burst of air that completely gave her away. How'd she…?

"It's fine. Truth be told I hadn't really suspected as such until today. But the many ways you've changed all point to that. Your reaction just now mostly proves it, does it not?"

Diana levelled her even gaze at Akko, who continued to sit there stunned. But there wasn't the shattered sadness in her demeanour that Akko had expected. Instead, a powerful determination. The kind of steely look the Witch sported when it was time to prove something. Her words softening as she continued to speak, flowing like silk.

"You need not say anything. I've put you through enough for today. But know this-"

Diana once again stood up but this time she slinked past Akko, trailing a soft hand across her shoulder as she paused for a moment before properly passing by.

"-I accept that your love rests with another. But I will not give in simply for that reason. Perhaps that makes me insufferably selfish, however I'm past the point of letting a technicality like that get in the way. I will not force the issue, I just had to let you know my intentions. And besides-"

The tip of one of her fingers brushed so lightly behind Akko's ear it sent a tingling storm of pins and needles across her neck. She made a soft noise without meaning to, her face burning so hot she was sure Diana could see it.

"-would you really be so nervous if part of you didn't wonder how much I could please you?'"

With a graceful swish Diana's hand separated its touch and the girl herself left Akko there to hopelessly ponder over what had just taken place. But only when Diana's footsteps faded from earshot did Akko let out a huge, exasperated breath as she planted her head on her thighs.

"Oh man, what…?" She blurted out to herself.

Akko didn't want to think about it. Though her thoughts screamed at her to do so. Diana had been so close, she'd caught Akko totally unprepared. Is that what Chariot had felt like when Akko had…no that was different, wasn't it? Then why couldn't she move? Why was her heart spinning in her chest so quickly it threatened to somehow make her airborne?

It wasn't love. Akko could figure that much. It was that _other_ thing. Unable to focus on anything else, she knew what had to be done.

Akko had to see her Chariot. More than ever. She would tell her everything. Whatever happened afterwards, she chose not to worry about right there and then.

How long it would take to be safely alone with her though?

=][=

Akko had slipped an enchanted note to Chariot the following morning after class, tucking it discreetly inside a few pages of her work handed in for marking. The small slip of paper had been a gift from her Professor several days back, on which she explained that its brief messages would appear to be mundane recipes to anyone but themselves, and even more helpful; once Akko would pass it to her, Chariot's reply would cause that same scrap of paper to magically pop back into the possession of the original sender. In Akko's case, it would reappear amidst her stack of Shiny Chariot cards, a spot she picked so as to not look in the least bit suspicious as she played and or simply admired them all the time anyway, and would always be on her person for safekeeping, magical note or not.

She'd gleefully used it everyday to voice her thoughts after agreeing in secret with Chariot to keep things subtle for a little while. After what had happened before, there was no cause to argue that safety and secrecy would be their priority. Even if they hadn't agreed on that, Akko barely found any instances to be alone with Chariot without raising too many eyebrows all the same. The best way to keep a secret was to never put herself in a situation where she'd have to lie to someone, especially her friends.

With the notes themselves, usually it was (mostly) innocent triflings of how she was feeling about her lovely teacher, or making plans to go flying together across the country to a place where no one knew them at all. Or simply asking personal questions about the woman's life as Akko had come to the quick realisation that there was still so much she didn't know about the woman she loved.

But that time Akko's message had been forward enough to leave no mystery. And the five minutes it took for a reply had the girl so strung with excitement Sucy had quipped that Akko had probably been petrified by some curse, much to Lotte's naive worry.

 _Chariot, I want to be alone with you again. But I also want to tell you something important that happened. When can I see you?_

 _Akko :)_

The slip of paper, incognito amongst her scattered study materials and Shiny cards as she lay amongst it all messily on her bed, appeared on her thigh with its etched return message. Sucy and Lotte were chatting from bunk above so they wouldn't be able to see her trembling hands as she picked it up to read its words close.

 _I'll plan a tutoring lesson for you soon. We can practice your broom flying on an afternoon. I know of a good place we can go. Both of us have been so busy, haven't we? It'll be wonderful to hold you again. The stars always make me think of you._

 _Your Chariot._

Four excruciating days of tiring learning passed after Akko had slipped the note back to her the same way as before, simply writing ' _I can't wait!'._ She'd actually had to steady herself and breathe purposefully slow to ease her racing heart when Chariot's reply appeared at last as Akko was packing up after what had felt like the longest potions lesson in her life.

 _Meet me at the broom tower after today's work. It'll be a tutoring session scheduled for a long distance flight, so no one should find it suspicious, I hope._

The last bit of the message looked like it was scrawled with some difficulty, with the words appearing too bold and hasty, like Chariot's hand had shook when she'd wrote it.

 _I long for you, darling Akko._

Picturing the sound of Chariot's gentle voice saying that skipped ten beats in the girl's nerve. Reading it over and over, nearly hyperventilating as she did so, Akko forced her will to show nothing outward that would make her friends suspect anything. And if her excitement gave anything away, she'd just say it was the thrilling joy of being able to fly with Chariot again, which was part of the truth of course!

After making it back to her dorm with Lotte and Sucy, she'd managed to part ways easily as the two of them had immediately busied themselves in study to pay any extra attention. Considering Akko's ability to fly was still abysmal, and broom flying was an actual subject, they raised no complaints about any slacking on her part.

"Have fun, Akko! Remember not to channel too much magic into your broom. Your last fall scared me a little…"

"She'll be fine. Flying a few centimetres off the ground can't be that dangerous."

She'd said her farewells after that and made the journey over to the broom tower, thankfully not running into Diana along the way. With how tensely exhilarated she was feeling then the urge to just bolt away from her tussled uneasily in her mind. Akko simply didn't know what else to do with that girl.

That worry faded and eventually vanished as she'd taken the last step up the spiralling staircase onto the sky balcony of the tower; and there was Chariot, as gorgeous and beckoning as ever; leaning on the railing with her distinct broom and a smaller ordinary one tucked under her arm, her smile lighting up like fireworks when Akko came into view, who had to fight against herself to leap into those firm arms lest she spill them both over the edge.

"Akko, you're here! A-Are you ready to g-"

"Yeah! Let's fly away!"

"Ah, yes…of course, of course. Umm, please take your broom. I'll assist you with some tethering magic at first until you get a feel for it. Let's go then."

Chariot didn't seem to want to waste any time either. And after a scant few seconds of positioning for take-off they both eased off the platform as one and lightly soared across the rolling plains and woodland of Luna Nova's grounds, the sky above the picture of the clearest blue with the winds so light it felt wonderfully refreshing against Akko's nervous skin.

Although despite her best efforts, Chariot's tethering spell was doing most of the flying. She could only keep her broom steady for maybe a minute at a time before it lurched or banked a bit too sharply before the magical assistance righted her flight path to hover close in parallel with her mentor, who naturally glided along with no trouble.

"Try to relax your arms a little, Akko." Chariot advised with a patient smile, her red hair flowing about with the wind, bangs shimmering slightly in the sun. "I've seen you fly quite well at low altitudes in short bursts, but you need to manage your energy more carefully on a proper flight. Like this, keep your posture similar to mine, but also let your position be one you're comfortable with."

It was mostly general advice that Akko had heard before from other people, but because it was Chariot saying it that time, her compulsion to pull it off right magnified under that woman's scrutiny. More so than anyone else, it was her that Akko wanted to be proud of her magical ability. That feeling had been there since she'd first become Chariot's greatest fan, and had only gotten stronger the closer they'd become.

"Uff! Ok, going to loosen up a little! Hrm-!" Akko did the opposite almost immediately, earning another abrupt jolt from her broom that no doubt would've sent her plummeting to Earth without the help.

"Hey…"

She felt Chariot's hand gently clasp onto her shoulder, and turning to glance over, Akko saw her professor wearing that same smile she'd had since meeting for that day still glowing bright, made all the more beautiful with the new-found sparks of joy that endlessly lit up in that's woman's crimson eyes. The gesture of support steadied Akko's flight immediately, mostly it seemed because staring at her made Akko forget absolutely everything else in the world.

"It's Ok, Akko. Take as long as you need. We still have some distance to go before…well…"

Akko perked up, curiosity piqued so strongly she had to ask.

"Where are we going? You've planned something? C'mon, you can tell me!" She pried excitedly, jolting her broom a little but carelessly letting the tethering spell to do most of the work to keep from falling.

Chariot returned a quivering smile before turning away to stare forwards, but from that angle Akko clearly saw the sudden blush of pink glowing on her mentors defined cheeks. That reaction only served to excite Akko further, but before she let it take a real hold, noticed how embarrassed Chariot was growing every passing moment. Reigning in the skipping joy in her mind, Akko thought of something else to say to change the subject; a topic she realised had been weighing on her ever since that tense encounter with a certain young Witch.

"Chariot, a thing happened a few days ago…" She started clumsily, unsure what words to pick. Her mentor must've sensed her apprehension, and glanced over with a slight wrinkle of concern across her brow, her embarrassment fading a little. "It's about Diana. She asked to meet me alone in the library and-"

Akko saw Chariot's flight path buck a little bit when she'd said that, but pretended not to notice and continued.

"-She confessed to me…again. But this time she uh, well I don't know how to describe it. I ended up getting a little scared to be honest."

"What happened, Akko?" A little sharpness in Chariot's tone. But it wasn't meant for Akko, the girl felt. Was Chariot actually…jealous? And why did something like that only excite her even more?

"Diana got real close to me, saying I was really important to her. It was so sudden I kinda froze for a little bit, then she uhh…"

An apprehensive silence, the sounds of their clothes rippling in the wind filling the blank air awkwardly. Akko hesitated to say more, but knew she had to put what had happened out there. Too late to back out, and she didn't want to keep any secrets from her anyway. But that made her no less nervous.

"...kinda…tried to sit on my lap."

Chariot's hands actually slipped from her broom for a second before she frantically righted herself, adding in a very unconvincing cough at the end.

"B-but don't worry! When she did that I just pushed her away! It all just caught me totally off-guard. Plus she…ummm…"

Akko cursed her failing ability to speak clearly. Was Chariot getting upset to what she was saying? Had she made a mistake in telling her something like that? Regardless, her professor pushed her to continue, giving her an unmistakably genuine look of reassurance.

"Please go on, Akko. Forgive my…odd reaction…much like you I felt a bit of shock. Diana really did THAT?"

Akko giggled weakly. "Y-yeah. It wasn't like her at all. Also-and I swear she must be psychic or something-Diana kinda figured that I was seeing someone. Again, cross my heart, I didn't say anything about all this…but then she said she didn't care if I was with someone or not; that Diana wasn't going to give up just because of that. And then she left me. That's when I sent you that message, asking to be alone with you…"

"...I see." Chariot replied quietly, turning away from Akko to stare forwards again and falling silent for a minute. Akko thought she'd really upset Chariot that time, but before she could scramble out any words to counter that, her professor suddenly spoke up.

"I've never felt more jealous in my life."

The way she'd said it, for whatever reason Akko found it be to ridiculously amusing. She was staring ahead with such seriousness in her angled frown like she was trying to set the sky alight. Akko knew she should've felt apprehensive, but that reaction ignited an odd energy that rippled every nerve in her already-tense body. Chariot was jealous…her beloved hero and mentor since childhood was _jealous._ To call that simply flattering for the girl was a gigantic understatement.

Thinking for a moment if it would be more tactful to remain silent, instead Akko blurted out her next words in a wild shout that snapped Chariot from her stewing to stare at the girl, baffled.

"You have no clue how excited and happy that makes me!"

Why couldn't she control her mouth any more?! What a stupid thing to say! Akko had to apologise before-

Chariot had swooped in close, sealing Akko's babbling lips in a soft airborne kiss before pulling away, hiding part of her blushing face beneath the rim of her pointed hat. Her wobbly, quivering smile still visible however.

"You're a…very curious girl, Akko. I hope you like what I'll be showing you soon."

The sweet contact of that brief kiss resurged every tickling emotion Akko had strained to keep in check just beneath. It left her stunned, able to only fly straight ahead whilst constantly staring at that wonderful woman.

Her only real cohesive thought during the rest of that silent flight;

 _My Chariot, I can't wait…I just can't wait…_

=][=

The glowing tension in the air surged from awkward to so palpable Chariot swore the world itself was slowing down their flight across plain after plain of fields on the way to her destination. What Akko had told her set something off in her heart; a raw emotion she'd had no cause to feel until that recent exchange between them. A possessive jealousy, mixed with a helping of shaking terror that had pushed her to steal that kiss. There was no controlling it.

That Diana, bless her kind soul, had angered Chariot more than any time previous. But the more she pondered about her, the quicker her annoyance simmered away. After all, Diana didn't know what was really going on, and anyone outside that triangle of conflicting emotions would most likely take that girl's side on the whole affair.

Chariot was in the wrong. She'd accepted that. But the idea of that blonde Witch snatching Akko away destroyed any moral thinking on her part. Being an adult, being a teacher…those responsibilities seemed as if nothing against the raging heat of her jealousy. But she would not let that petty emotion control her. Diana was not the one at fault.

It only made her love for Akko that much harder to contain physically. And the way Akko kept staring at her as they flew…Chariot knew she was feeling the same way.

To the abyss with traditions and rules, to everything in that world that sought to take her joy away so soon after its ascension. Diana's selfishness reflected Chariot's own, so she couldn't bring herself to actually dislike her…but Akko was hers and that was that.

Even so, a minute from their destination as they crested a rolling hill of verdant grass at low-altitude, Chariot had to speak her concern. Just to make sure, just so she could let all her sorrow go, Chariot had to ask her, breaking that deafening silence at last.

"Would you ever, with Diana-"

"Never."

Chariot slowed her flight, biting her lip as the sudden response almost broke her down in tears as she turned away in nervous shame.

"Never. _Never!_ You're the only I want! You've always been the only one! If it wasn't for you I never even would've liked girls in the first place! And-and-and…don't you DARE doubt that for a second! That's an Akko promise!"

Chariot turned back to her, taking in that incredible energy the girl exuding from those bright, hopeful eyes, her smile shining brighter than any star, illuminating every wonderful thing Chariot held dear, that she'd come so close to forgetting entirely…

Before she could reply properly, Chariot was distracted by the sight revealed before them; small simple cottage of faded white, nestled in the crest of a few hills, naturally hidden from the prying eyes of the world. It was already late afternoon as the sunlight faded to a melancholy hue of deep amber around them. Only an hour or two before night…why was there so little time, she thought painfully.

The two Witches touched down in tandem, dismounting their brooms a short distance from the cosy structure, the subtle cold tickling about making it all the more welcoming.

"This place, where are we?" Akko asked innocently, glancing at Chariot briefly with a curious tilt of the head.

"My home. Where I hid for so many years after my failure. You'll be the first to ever set foot inside besides myself…"

"Your house! I get to see your HOUSE?!" Akko yelped excitedly, bouncing on her feet.

"W-well, it's nothing impressive as you can see. But yes, and-"

Chariot drew in a steady breath before reaching out her hand for Akko to take; the girl quickly beaming with brighter joy before joining their palms together without a trace of hesitation.

"-I'd be overjoyed to show you."

The woman led the girl to the threshold of her home, hands entwined, before letting them inside as the door opened on its own; its latent magic still recognising her.

From within, Chariot released Akko's hand, prompting the girl to hover about with stars in her eyes, somehow keenly excited at the displays of thing utterly mundane to Chariot. The woman's home was every bit as subtle and subdued as the personality she'd adopted over the years as Ursula Callistis; simple wooden floors, tiny shelves mostly filled with old books, candle holders lining the walls that lit up within the bulbs with their presence. The natural light glowing through small windows from outside already had that fading melancholy tinge to it. It distracted Chariot for a moment as Akko giddily hopped about, picking up item after item, including some rare photos from long ago and commenting just how adorable Chariot had looked when she'd been closer to Akko's age.

Chariot knew she should've felt excited and free to be alone with her, but the steadily setting sun only continued to worry her the more it's light faded. They had so little time to be there. Even going there in the first place was risking far too much on the clock, more than enough to probably increase suspicion every second they were there.

Moving automatically, Chariot found she'd prepared some special tea for the two of them from the nearby kitchen that opened up to the living room and the couch by the doused fireplace where Akko keenly peered at the heirlooms lined by the mantle one after the other, giggling to herself in delight at some old family photos of her parents looking happy but a little exhausted with a tiny Chariot leaping happily into the air between them.

"Aww, look at you guys! And look at you! That's so…ahh geez that's just sooo cute!"

Chariot allowed Akko to marvel at her simple possessions, setting down the tea cups with some calming leaf swirling its aroma in that tiny room, then sat herself down on the couch with one of the drinks settled on her lap on a saucer. Akko's strong nose picked up the scent quickly and she hopped over to sit down right beside the woman, their legs and hips basically glued together with the lack of space.

"Hey, you read my mind, hehe. That smells so good~" She took a big gulp, mildly astonishing Chariot that she hadn't burnt her tongue doing that. "Mmwah! Good stuff…"

Without any prompt Akko gently leaned her head on Chariot's shoulder, leading to a comfortable silence in that fading light, cradled in the surprising warmth offered in that humble place, the aroma of tea mingling with various other scents of a home well-lived.

Akko's somewhat messy bangs smelled oddly of chocolate from that close, and guided by the increasingly intoxicating sensation Chariot leaned over and rested her own weary head atop Akko's own; the scent of the girl growing wild and untamed flutterings all throughout the woman. How was it possible for a person to possess such a divine aroma? It truly felt heavenly, so much so that it had the unfortunate side-effect of almost lulling Chariot to sleep.

She'd already been tired, and so the serenity of sharing such a simple, beautiful moment with the girl had almost taken her waking consciousness away completely.

Had Akko noticed? She was just staring forward, restful and breathing calmly, tea already finished with the empty cup on the table. For a second, Chariot thought the girl had fallen asleep, but then the girl spoke. Her following words had an eerie tone to them, bereft of her usual cheer, and utterly serious.

"Chariot, why don't we just stay here…?"

She took those words in, whipping up a frenzy of reckless bravery in her heart that seemed to erase the entire world outside that room, leaving just the two them, and all the wonderful scents, the warmth, the feeling of her body pressing so softly against her own.

"We could do anything. We could go anywhere. You and me and endless adventures…bringing love with us to everyone. Like how you brought it to me, how you showed me a world of magic that inspired me to become a Witch…and to finally get to meet you…"

Akko's hand, slightly trembling fell upon Chariot's own who had hers folded on her lap, but at the gentle contact she opened her fingers up and laced them around the girl's own. The shaking stopped.

"...to finally have you. And now I'm here…in your home and I feel like-I feel like it's the greatest thing ever. I've been here a few minutes and I already want this to be my home. It's so peaceful…"

Chariot noted the small break in Akko's voice, and eased one of her hands free to gently stroke the girl's hair, lovingly easing her palm against Akko's forehead as she did so.

"But even though I'm here, and I knowing this is real…I can't…"

Chariot let her speak, already knowing what was going to be said. The girl was braver than she was; to say what she could not.

"I can't have this now, can I? I can't relax here and have you like before. Every time I stop to take a breath I think of everything that's getting in the way, of what happened before…and-and…"

Akko breathed a heavy, shaking sigh and tucked her legs inward, shifting ever closer so that Chariot cradled her in her arms.

"I'm so tired…"

One of those silences began, the kind Chariot had allowed to happen so many times in the past, the kind she'd always regretted. A quiet born from fear, from cowardice. From running away. From lying to herself.

But she wasn't that person any more.

"Akko."

She said her name firmly, and when the girl, teary-eyed and red-faced raised her head to look at her, Chariot sealed a passionate kiss on her anxious lips, a soft melodious whine shuddering forth from the girl…or Chariot herself? The woman greedily tasted the scents that ravenously tempted, just as Akko forcefully challenged her own desires, pressing inward, heaving her cries of pleasure through what tiny gaps remained in their connection. That wild energy grew, twisting their movements, ridding the clouds of doubt as Akko pressed over Chariot, shifting to mount atop her, hands pulling behind Chariot's neck, her dominating grip alone surging impossible pleasures, shooting like peals of ecstatic lightning down the woman's quivering back.

Already the wonderful sensation seized her body to melt under the girl's slight weight, submitting entirely to whatever Akko wished to do with her. But even then, as a series of uncouth, graceless moans slipped from Chariots lips that melded with Akko's own cries of pleasure, a darkening storm of worries built up in the woman's mind; battling against that selfish rapture.

The girl slipped her mouth slaked with moisture from Chariot's and proceeded to ravenously lick and kiss all along the sides of her neck instead, leaving the woman's mounting pleasure to sound off with a graceless shaking cry that rattled the walls.

"Ah- _ahhhh!"_

It was a teetering step towards the abyss, that's what Chariot felt. Every moment, every second brought them both closer to it, to falling into it with no way to escape. Not that time.

Akko moved her hips, pushing… _sliding…_ against Chariots…

Chariot was ready to shout then. The darkness of the abyss sinking her soul was terrifying, but the sensation pushed onward. Akko…pushed onward…

Just as she was about to tell her to stop, it was Akko who halted first, pulling back a little but remaining mounted atop her professor, though still leaning over her.

Her face said everything; tired eyes half-closed, chest rising and falling with laboured breaths that heaved from her parted lips. Exhaustion and trepidation.

Chariot understood then after the racing tempo of her heart suddenly slowed at the sight. It became clear what she needed to say. For Akko's sake, for her own. She had to do it.

Whatever pain it caused, it would pass. It had to. Otherwise…what else could they do?

"We need to stop, Akko…"

Akko's shaking, red face twisted into a pained scowl before giving way to sadness as the girl tightly shut her eyes, shining tears quickly forming, the tiny droplets reflecting the ever-increasing glow of candlelight in the room.

"...but I've dreamed of this. I actually have you, but I don't know why I still feel so scared…"

"Because you're human, as am I for the most part…and I don't think you want to end the precious happiness you already had, the wonderful life you were living…you're not ready to let it all go, even with how you feel about me. You're still so young…"

A soft mewl of sadness, followed by a hiccup came from the girl. Chariot, as gently as she could manage, sat up and allowed Akko's weight to shift off of her so the two sat on their knees, faces still only a breath apart. The dizzying scent from so close nearly drove Chariot to taste that divine sensation again, but somehow she relented with a curt bite of her lower lip.

"We've been trying to control ourselves for a while, but the drive to do this with each other is just too much to bear. We can't live our lives with this secret, no matter how careful we are. It just took us a while for both of us to see it; when we weren't being mindlessly driven by our desires."

Akko dipped her head, shoulders trembling with silent, wracking cries. But before the girl truly broke down, Chariot followed with more, making Akko snap her baffled eyes on her again.

"...but I'm not giving up just yet."

"Chariot…?"

"Do you remember the words of Arcturus? In particular, the one you needed to work on personally? What it was I tried to teach you?"

She took that in with a puzzled tilt of her face, but when quickly realised what Chariot was getting at, a flare of hope shined again behind a tepid smile.

"P-patience!"

Chariot quietly sniffled at that, fighting with all her worth to maintain composure. She cupped Akko's bright cheeks in her hands and leaned in to grace a tiny, lingering kiss on her forehead before pulling away and gingerly rubbing away the girl's tears with her sleeve.

"Yes. Though we need to stop, it doesn't mean it has to end. I simply want you to live your life first, to graduate from the academy as the truly wonderful Witch I know you'll become. To be free from the worry and stress of what we've been doing. You might not have understood yet, just how special this time with all of us together will seem in the future. Time and time again you'll wish it could all start over. One more day with nothing to fret over except learning and the company of people who accept you completely."

Akko listened intently, still with a might shade of apprehension clouding her demeanour.

"So…I should graduate first? A year and a half? I don't know how I'll-" She shook her head, the distinct tail atop her crop of hair whipping about. "-how _you'll_ wait that long. I've got all these people to care and worry about me but-but you don't have that same kind of support. What will-"

"I'm not alone. Not any more. I'll still have you. And my dear friend Croix. And besides…"

Chariot got to her feet, pulling Akko up with her whilst keeping their hands connected.

"You didn't just show me love. You taught me how to love myself again. I'll never be alone. I'll never let that darkness of misery take me again. Not when I know a girl as special as you exists in my life."

Akko took a step forward, unwinding her hands from Chariot's to instead wrap them tight around the woman's waist then pulling her close, speaking her next words in a slight muffle from Chariot's chest. Even just her voice jolted soundless joy to spring in the woman's heart.

"...You'll be ok? You can wait for me until I graduate?"

"That's a promise. And when you do, my home awaits, if that is your wish…"

"Of course, Chariot! OF COURSE!"

They held one another for a short while, both only letting tiny wisps of tears to flow. Chariot had been shaking uncontrollably at first, but soon she'd calmed down enough to the point her thoughts cleared a fraction; enough to think straight without her lust at the helm. Right then, she was Akko's protector and mentor. As exhilarating as it all it was, the woman knew that was the best course of action. They could still have their love, but would not jeopardise everything like before by rushing so recklessly.

"Now…" Chariot parted the embrace and grinned warmly at the girl who returned the smile three-fold. There was still sadness there, but she knew Akko was strong. It would pass. They had time. "Let us return. We're already late. Can you still fly?"

"Sure I can!" Akko nodded fervently and swung over to the door, snatching her broom from the wall in the process. But just from that, Chariot easily noted how shaky her legs were, and Akko having to suddenly balance herself on the broom like a crutch gave the real answer. "…Woah, hang on. Hehe, m-maybe not…"

"I'll take you then, just like I used to. You can rest up on the way back to Luna Nova."

"Thanks, Chariot." A short pause, with Akko clutching her broom to her chest and seeming to light up that melancholy glow in the room with another grateful, heart-warming smile. "T-thank you."

=][=

Coasting at a decent speed across the skies, Chariot flew her broom with Akko clutched to her back; the girl having fallen asleep before they'd even touched off the ground. The poor thing…she'd been working so hard as of late, pushing herself harder and harder to catch up and even surpass many of her classmates grades. Her drive for endless self-improvement was one of many virtues that made the woman love her so. All the more reason, she mulled with a heavy pang of yearning sitting its weight on her soul, that she wouldn't allow the inescapable retribution of continuing the affair while she was still at school. Unlike before however, she wasn't going to let self-hatred dictate her actions; no throwing herself on the sword as punishment and ruining not just her chance for happiness, but Akko's also in turn.

"Mhhm, S..Shiny Cha…"

Akko was mumbling in her sleep and even drooling a little with her head rested flush against the woman's back. What was it she'd said? Was Akko dreaming of her? That was so sweet…

"Your costume is sooo…ssssexy, hehehe~"

It wasn't just a simple mid-air juke that time; Chariot did a panicky 180 degree lateral spin before righting herself and somehow keeping Akko in tow, who woke up with only a cute little yawn.

"Wuahh…are we there already?" She mumbled sleepily.

"Not yet, about twenty more minutes." Chariot replied, scanning the horizon and the retreating sun almost totally set behind the rolling hills bathed in the amber light of that chilly afternoon. Despite her better judgement, she added: "…when you graduate, I'll gladly wear that costume for you, Akko."

"Guh!?" The girl blurted with a sudden twitch and fell silent, gripping Chariot's waist even tighter.

No more words were said on the trip, but even from that angle Chariot knew the girl was smiling ever wider.

The cold blues and greys of the early night received them when they finally returned to Luna Nova and touched down at the top of the balcony of the broom tower. Akko's exhaustion must have been at a critical point, as the girl had fallen into another slumber shortly before they'd arrived.

It was a simple task for a woman as strong as Chariot to carry the girl on her back all the way to her dormitory; a gentle quiet sweeping the academy as they moved along in that chill that no doubt had a hand in the many Witches of that place happily retiring to their warm beds and the company of friends.

A bed. How badly Chariot yearned to sleep in that moment. She was entirely drained of both mental and physical energy, so the simple pleasure of disappearing under the clean covers and sheets of her own tiny bed seemed an approaching miracle. What would the next day bring? Would she wake to a gnawing regret due to her choice of putting a temporary distance with the girl who'd figuratively saved her life?

She was so tired…all that could wait. At the very least, they were safe. Akko was safe.

"Geez, she really pushed herself this time, huh?" Sucy muttered with a tinge of annoyance when Chariot had entered Red Team's dorm. Despite the clear irritation, Sucy didn't pause to help take Akko from the woman and let the girl promptly slump onto her respective bed, snoring softly all the way.

"Akko's been working so hard…thank you for taking the time to help her, Professor Chariot." Lotte added sweetly as she sat up from the bunk above Akko's. "How did she do?"

"Very well. The fact she made it to our destination mostly under her own power was a terrific feat for someone who only started flying so recently. I'm sure before this semester is done, Akko will be able to soar by her own will."

"Yeah, she's just full of surprises…" Sucy said slipping into her own bed and resuming to read a book, though Chariot noted the tiny pleased smile she'd tried to hide behind the cover.

"Well, it's only ten minutes to curfew. I'll leave you all be. Good night, girls."

They said their goodbyes, allowing Chariot to start the harrowing journey back to her own quarters, already dreading the flight of stone stairs that were soon to meet her. Perhaps she could fly there to save the trouble…? No, flying indoors was reckless and silly. Personally she'd had enough of pushing her luck in many more ways than one.

In that daze of exhaustion, Chariot had barely noticed a hurried figure passing her by on the way, and when she'd noticed who it was, froze in place and whirled about to stare at the back of none other than Diana Cavendish.

Her frantic steps, the all-too familiar sound of repressed crying…something was wrong with her. The part of Chariot that always strove to help those in need won out over the reservations of what had happened between the girl and Akko. And also…in a way…she still wasn't so sure if Croix had really 'fixed' everything with the interference. Chariot had to know. Had to be certain Diana didn't know of the affair. But truly, she did want to help Diana, regardless of the past. She was through dwelling on what had come before.

"D-Diana…are you alright?"

The girl jumped and halted in place before swivelling slowly to stare at her with puffy, tear-stricken eyes. She looked so surprised it was like she hadn't noticed Chariot at all until she'd spoken up. Rather needlessly Diana quickly swiped at her face with an added sniffle and met the woman's gaze evenly, albeit with great difficulty in maintaining her shaking calm.

"Apologies, Professor. I was…" Diana hesitated, a little of her imperious posture slipping away, making the blonde appear incredibly vulnerable. "…I was distraught. Please do not concern yourself with the foibles that trouble me…"

"Why is that?" Chariot countered, but made sure to keep her reply gentle. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I can help."

It was about Akko. Diana didn't even need to really say it. Only that precious girl could swoon such emotions from people, of that Chariot was sure. Was it because of that anxious meeting Akko had told Chariot about? It had to be…

Another moment of nervous hesitation with Diana staring off to the side, through the windows shrouded in darkness lining that corridor.

"It's-" The last of her resistance faltered, visible in the trembling along the girl's shoulders, but her eyes still held a strong conviction. "-a mistake. I've made a terrible mistake…"

Chariot knew what it was. In a way she felt responsible…whether that was true or not didn't matter in wanting to assist the shaken girl.

"...come with me, Diana. I'll brew some calming tea. You can tell me everything. You can trust me to understand. I've…cried a lot myself throughout the years…"

That honest statement drew Diana's attention, and with a curt nod of agreement prompted Chariot to lead the way.

Before long Diana was seated by Chariot's desk in her quarters; the same seat Akko had occupied several times before. The same room where Akko and Chariot had-no she wouldn't cloud her judgement with that shame. After pouring them both cups of green tea, Chariot took the seat opposite the young Witch and patiently waited for her to speak, unsure if she would divulge what Chariot knew she wanted to say…

Without even taking a sip of the tea Diana Cavendish started to tell her everything, her string of words panicked and pained, without any of the haughty refinement the woman was used to hearing from the Witch.

"Professor, I've wronged Akko. I'm deeply infatuated with her and I pressed the issue when she was alone! I-I-I…I tried to touch her and-and…she pushed me away. I was so confused afterwards! I've never let my emotions carry me in such a way but…but I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. She graces my dreams almost every night…I wake in the morning exhausted and crying, feeling as if-" Diana let out a strained yelp, almost breaking down in sorrow. "-as if I'm closer than ever to losing her completely. Not just as my beloved, but also as my friend. And now after what I did to her, Akko seems to have made an effort to keep her distance from me. I-It's understandable of course, after how stupid, _stupid_ I acted. And now I'm thinking it'd be best if I removed myself from her life completely! Why did I do that to her?! Why couldn't control myself!? I'm such a fool-"

Chariot gingerly walked over to the seated girl and leaned over to lay a comforting hand on Diana's shoulder but let out a surprised yelp when the young Witch yanked her into a trembling hug instead. Diana broke completely in that tense embrace, clawing her shaking hands into Chariot's elbows as she dipped her head into the woman's chest and heaved and sobbed out a symphony of sharp, soft cries that reverberated throughout the still quiet of that room.

Chariot allowed all the time needed for Diana to let it all out, holding the girl in place until the sobbing faded into the cold, until the young Witch had shared every last shred of sadness haunting her.

Once she'd calmed, the woman pulled away and sat back down, letting Diana compose herself for another minute. The normally stoic, empress-like Diana Cavendish seemed so young then…made a mess of tears just like any girl her age. It was such a sad sight that whatever remained of Chariot's reservations thawed away. Diana had made mistakes, had wronged her…but hadn't Chariot done such a thing herself? That poor girl…

"Apologies again, Professor. I'm not usually one to do such things…"

"Worry not, Diana. It's why I'm here. And I completely understand what you're going though. You wanted to seal Akko's love for yourself, but ending up feeling as if you've pushed her away. Your shame has blocked your heart…"

"...Yes."

"But you need to remember just what kind of girl Akko is. I know it might seem like something you can't come back from, but she isn't an ordinary person by any stretch of the imagination, is that right?"

Another spark of confidence returned in Diana's cerulean gaze. Not completely restored, but enough.

"Yes."

"So talk to her when you can. Approach her as a friend and just explain what you were going through. If we both know her as well as we think, Akko will happily forgive you. And everything will be back to normal it will seem as if nothing was ever wrong in the first place. We've all made mistakes, haven't we? Did you forget what it was I did to her? When she ran away?"

A hint of shame in her eyes as Diana looked away to the ground for a second. Perhaps she'd been so lost in her emotions that event had slipped from her memory after all. She sniffled and squinted away her remaining tears.

"You're right. She forgave you…then there's a chance Akko will do the same for me…"

"Not just a chance." Chariot stood up from her seat, with Diana doing the same with a renewed vigour in her posture. "It's a guarantee. Now go get your rest, Diana. Take solace with your friends, and look forward to the morning. Everything will be alright."

Diana offered a genuine, wide smile as her body eased with a heady relief. After offering a fine curtsy, she held that revived happiness with her farewell.

"You're a wonderfully generous Witch, professor. My sincere gratitude for your counsel…"

She shifted a little on her feet like she was about to leave, much to Chariot's exhausted relief, but Diana paused to say one thing more. The pensive look on her face…the girl was wearing her mask of confidence again. What Chariot had said to reassure her had helped but it wasn't entirely enough. At the very least Diana's small smile remained.

"You remind me of my mo-" The blonde witch cut herself off with an anxious huff and whirled about on her feet before leaving the room in a hurry.

That girl, Chariot mulled as her rapidly dwindling energy slowed her thoughts as well as her body, was far more vulnerable than she ever wished to let on. What would she do? No doubt Akko would absolve her of any wrongdoing, but what would come after? Diana was infatuated with the same girl who'd taken Chariot's heart…

Before that train of thinking really left the station of her painfully befuddled mind, the woman had already fallen in a tired heap atop the mattress of her bed with a dramatic groan. That day, the longest in her entire life was finally at an end. What would've happened if she'd succumbed to her wanton desire when she'd been alone with Akko in her home? The two of them would've most likely fallen asleep after the act, noticed by the academy that the two of them had been missing the entire night…and then the questions would've started. And with Akko's and her own abysmal ability at telling lies it wouldn't have taken long for that suspicion to out their secret.

It made sense in hindsight. Perhaps subconsciously she'd known that and had made the sudden decision to create that space between them? She chose to believe Akko had come to the same conclusion, after all hadn't she also hesitated to fulfil her lust?

Could they really control themselves for the time until they could truly be together? Maybe the very next night they would seek each other out in the dark…frenzied with desire…

Her heartbeat picked up tempo as her imagination played vivid scenarios. The numbness of sleep still crawled across her battered body, but her mind remained ravenously awake.

It would be dreams of her then. Would that be enough?

She could still taste the girl's essence on her lips, her voice teasing and coy in her ear; a whisper of longing…

 _Chariot, you're mine…_

With that her eyes snapped open to the empty room around her; now darkened by magic that had triggered on its own at some point. She'd slept for a few hours at least it seemed, and a quick glance at the glowing crescent moon passing the window told her it was close to midnight. The silence in there had become acutely noisy; that humming buzz impossible to ignore. Staring at the ceiling Chariot lost herself in thinking, remembering all those things she'd said to Akko recently about taking it slow and careful…

Akko…that girl, her love…

Had they lied to themselves? To each other?

Chariot couldn't pin down the truth no matter how much she struggled, and the longer she lay there alone, gradually curling her tired limbs inward to hug herself in the cold, the more the piercing yells of selfish pleasure overtook her will.

With a sudden gasp the woman sat up in her bed to be met with the same stillness and silence as before… but there was…!

Heartbeat hammering relentless, unable to breathe or think she bounded over to the front door of her quarters and threw it open with excessive force.

"...Ah!"

Akko was there, standing partway up the final step of the staircase; her body frozen in surprise like a rabbit caught in an open field. Her owlish blinks of shock passed quickly, small mouth ajar as the girl panted in whispers.

"Chariot…" She hushed softly in the dark, the lenses of her eyes reflecting tiny stars. Before the woman could reply the girl was already soundlessly slinking towards her, every slight movement even in that absence of light communicating thousands of sweet, beckoning dreams.

It was all too much. Lies were truth. Truth were lies. Things didn't simply occur how they were supposed to in the real world. Was she a fool to reason with it at all?

The girl slowed her advance, stopping just short of the threshold, waiting for an answer…

That was it. The ultimate dilemma. One she was powerless against.

And all besides in the end, she had a way to disregard the consequences of what she truly wanted. Chariot understood just what a hypocrite that made her, after all she'd said with such drive…

But that mattered not, and the answer Chariot gave to the girl who'd won her absolute love:

"Akko…I'm _yours._ "

 _Epilogue End_


End file.
